


Stranger Rainy Days

by Dunblak_Vizgoth



Series: Urbania: Estranged tale with real world cities and venues! [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: "Woodles", AC/DC - Freeform, ALL THE WARNINGS (simply because it's fun to push buttons), BDSM?, Cleanroom, Comedy, Dragon Con, Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Edition, F/F, F/M, Flea Markets, Gen, Gender Bender, Gender or Sex Swap, Head 'splosions!, Horrible Grammar, Jackson Mississippi, Kidnapping, Little Ceasar's Pizza, Louisiana, M/M, Magic, Martial Arts, Medical stuff, Multi, Oral Sex, Orgasm Denial, Other, Rock and Roll, Shennanigans when you roll 'seduce' on an orc, Smoking, Southern Hospitality, Superpowers, Teletubbies, Urban Fantasy, Using hentai doujinshi lines for foreplay, climax/orgasm denial, cunninglingus, runaways - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-06-04 21:14:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 40,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6675661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dunblak_Vizgoth/pseuds/Dunblak_Vizgoth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So it all begins one night when a group of college students (Mwahahahaa!!) get together for a little d&d. The party is crashed by a sudden blackout and occult looking intruders. From then on it's head over heels into a motley and estranged adventure. Let's hope they don't die in the process! Cheers!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hurrican WTF

**Author's Note:**

> This is an attempt at comedic writing and fun fiction, please do not be afraid to suggest or comment. We will be adding chapters as they come, but it will probably be slow going. In the mean time, sit back, relax, and enjoy. It's all for one and one for all!  
> If you are wondering why we've put up so many harsh tags and warnings it is because we wish to instill as much fear as possible. As if basting a turkey. (Only half of you will get this joke). But the long short of it is that we would rather be forward about what the reader is getting into now than later and have some random kid somewhere suffer a mental break. If you suffer a mental break by merely looking at our work then please let us know. We begin our world domination seminar next year.  
> Again, this is supposed to be an urban fantasy with comedic twists and turns all throughout. ANYTHING can happen. You have been forewarned (abandon all hope ye who enter . . . . . Ah forget it. That line is over used).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it all begins one night when a group of college students (Mwahahahaa!!) get together for a little d&d. The party is crashed by a sudden blackout and occult looking intruders. From then on it's head over heels into a motley and estranged adventure. Let's hope they don't die in the process! Cheers!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an attempt at comedic writing and fun fiction, please do not be afraid to suggest or comment. We will be adding chapters as they come, but it will probably be slow going. In the mean time, sit back, relax, and enjoy. It's all for one and one for all!  
> If you are wondering why we've put up so many harsh tags and warnings it is because we wish to instill as much fear as possible. As if basting a turkey. (Only half of you will get this joke). But the long short of it is that we would rather be forward about what the reader is getting into now than later and have some random kid somewhere suffer a mental break. If you suffer a mental break by merely looking at our work then please let us know. We begin our world domination seminar next year.  
> Again, this is supposed to be an urban fantasy with comedic twists and turns all throughout. ANYTHING can happen. You have been forewarned (abandon all hope ye who enter . . . . . Ah forget it. That line is over used).

“So what do you think?” Nathanial Rhinehart asked. The skinny Creative Writing major of seven semesters, going on eight, yanked at his blue backpack as he ducked his head against the misty Jackson drizzle. Standing at six foot four he had as much trouble getting out of his hail-beat Honda Civic as a stilt walker trying to get out of stadium seats.  
Jake Grey chuckled from the back of the cramped car. “Well I think that women should actually get to vote on things such as the possibility of male fertilization.” The short but extremely fit Texan had followed Nathanial all the way to Belhaven University and was currently working through his third year even though he was twenty-three years old.  
“Seriously though, I think it’s pretty weird to think of guys trying to birth children like women do. I mean, there are two different genders for a reason aren’t there?” The third Belhavenite, Mike Curwood unfolded himself out of the tight front passenger seat. He was taller than Nathanial by an inch or two, and was more lanky than skinny. He was the first of the three “musketeers” to apply to the liberal arts college. For a Bachelors in history.  
“Your mom has a reason.” Jake quipped, sliding out of the back seat with half a dozen cheap pizzas they had bought from the Little Caesars in Fondren.  
Mike chuckled, zipping up his hoody and grapping his own backpack. “Alright enough about Nate’s mom. We all know and love her, it just makes it awkward if we go on about her like that.”  
“For you maybe.” Jake smirked, suavely carrying the pizzas in one hand and his pack in the other with his hoody nonchalantly thrown over his shoulder.  
“Alright, alright. Let’s get on with it. Adventure awaits” Mike wrapped his arms around their shoulders.  
The three walked up the red-brick driveway to the loose side door of the large rent house. Louisiana native and second year chemistry major Joan LaDeaux. She was a thin, ecstatic girl who had the body of a gymnast or a ballerina, perhaps both. When Jake knocked on the door the sharp faced, but smiling Joan answered.  
“Hey y’all! Come in! Come in!” She waved each of her fellow Belhaven peers in out of the Mississippi night, giving each of them a joyous hug in turn. Mike and Nathanial ducked a little as they came in, a force of habit for men of their stature.  
A well-dressed young man, about Jake’s height and build, stood up from the stool table to great them. Robinson Thorne smiled as he shook each of the newcomer’s hands. Dressed in dark slacks, a blue dress shirt, and a black vest he was nearly the textbook definition of classy with his slight scruff, welcoming eyes and easy going manner. Following him wherever he went was the faint hints of tobacco smoke from his pipe.  
He and Joan had started a relationship half a year ago. They were an interesting couple, one buzzing with excitement while the other seemed a bit melancholy, but they were inseparable. Rob, as they called him or Rob, was always doting on her in some way.  
Catharine Keable, an English major from Old Miss, had already arrived and was patiently awaiting them at the table. In a word she was the group’s self-conscious duff. A slightly chubby, dark-haired girl with a hint of Asian descent who usually dressed in oversize sweaters and jeans. She gave a shy wave as the new coming trio shuffled in and set the pizza on the kitchen counter.  
After exchanging awkward and heartfelt hellos they all gathered around the table set in the carpeted living room. With a mock hushed awe they waited as Mike drew forth the holy trinity of dice games: the dungeon master’s guide, player’s handbook, and monster manual. All in three-point-five edition.  
“Let’s get this party started!” Mike grinned.  
Character sheets and campaign notes, forgotten over the week, were brought back into the air. Each of the party members readied their dice and doodads. Mike helped Nathanial level up at the last minute as he munched on a pepperoni slice. Jake flipped through his notes, reading glasses out of place on one so young but giving his sharp face an air of maturity. The love birds snuggled close to each other; Joan sipping from a mug of fresh coffee. When Mike saw Catharine fidgeting about he asked her if she needed any help. She shook her head, blushing slightly as she rubbed the ends of her hair. The nervous jitterbug stole a couple of obvious looks at Jake before scribbling on her character sheet.  
“Alright, we were last in the Chaos Depths with the whole party trekking though murky water and trying our best trying not to let our elf ranger get humped by tempted orcs.” Mike smirked as he leveled a meaningful glare at Nathanial.  
The creative writer gave a long sigh, burring his already blushing head in his arms. “Y’all are never going to let that go are you?”  
“Heh-heh, nope!” Jake chuckled, pulling down his reading glasses to give his long time friend a sharp grin.  
“It was one time okay!” Nathanial exasperated, his long fingered hands working to emphasize his point. “I just wanted to know if it was doable game-wise.”  
“That doesn’t mean you had to do it!” Jake started, his hands moved in his signature expression of emphasizing a point. He would ‘chop the block’ so to speak. Moving his hands as if he was lifting or shaking a small box with un-spread fingers.  
“It was just one time! And it was effective, apparently. So yeah, lesson learned!” Nathanial blushed deeper.  
“You had a sword, what were you thinking trying to seduce an orc barbarian in the middle of a fight?” Mike was trying hard not to burst into laughter.  
“I just wanted to see if it worked!”  
“Worked? He was on top of you! You were practically having sex with an orc! So yeah! It worked!” Jake cracked, still illustrating his point and trying to burst into laughter.  
“Alright, that’s enough. There are ladies present.” Mike managed to get in. Nathanial was already beat red and had buried his head back into his arms. “Hmmm, okay. Um, let’s get back to it. Ahem.”  
Each of the players around the table fell silent as the dungeon master, awkwardly yet intricately, spun details that caught on the edges of their imagination. Now they were in the dark, water logged dungeon that connected the lake to the Chaos Depths.  
“You have already passed the blood soaked ritual chamber and saved the boy who was to be the sacrifice. Now you wade through knee-high water in a large culvert dug out from the mountain rock. If I remember correctly, Jake’s armored cleric was in front with Rob’s Gnome rogue to his left and Nathanial’s Elf ranger to his right. Behind them are Catharine’s fighter-sorceress ‘battlemage’ and Joan’s Druidess.” Mike interlaced his fingers as he propped his elbows on the table, eagerly eyeing his friends and opponents.  
“All around you is the echoing sound of dripping water and darkness seems to swallow up the magical as well as the natural light you carry. Ahead a sound of rippling breaks the silence, a slight swishing in the water.” Outside pale light flashed in an instant then redacted to a rain pattering black. A second later an ominous rumble rattled through the bones of the house.  
_Seriously?_ They thought unanimously. Mike shrugged inwardly. Roll with it.  
Catharine flinched and rubbed her arms while glancing at the dark windows. “I roll to spot something in the dark tunnel!” Nathanial exclaimed.  
_He’s like an overly-annoying enthusiastic anime character._ Mike sighed. “You’re a Half-Elf. How many times to I have to explain this to you? Half-Elves only have low-light vision! Not darkvision!”  
“I cast a spell for _darkvision_!” Nathanial announced, not to be done in.  
“Ranger’s don’t have _darkvision_ spells at your level.” Mike mumbled loud enough to be heard.  
“Uhm, I could give somebody one of my ‘everburning torches’. You could throw it and light up the area.” Catharine suggested in a small voice.  
“That sounds okay. But I think I’ve got a better one.” Jake’s eyes twinkled with mischief.  
Catharine blushed and bowed her head, fidgeting with the edge of her plaid skirt. _He thought it was a good plan! He thought I had a good plan!_  
Jake pulled his reading glasses off and twirled them by the temples. He calmly looked at Mike with a grin spreading on his face. “Which way does the water flow?”  
“There’s a small current pushing into the cavern from behind you. It’s because the stream outside flows through into the culvert.” Mike narrowed his eyes and grinned in return. “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”  
Smiling, Jake turned to Catharine. “I don’t suppose you still have any of that oil, do you?”  
“Uh, sure.” Catharine looked through her items to make sure she still had it. She had wanted to carry around a lantern at one point but once she saw how awkward it would be she sold it off. She had not gotten rid of the oil, thinking it might come in handy later. “But what are you going to use it for?”  
“You’ll see.” Jake grinned. “Mind if I use it?”  
“No problem.”  
“I take six pints of oil from Catharine and pour them out into water.” Jake said, taking up his mechanical pencil and began writing down calculations.  
“Son of a gun.” Mike folded his arms and smiled wider. “So? You’re dumping the oil, then what?”  
He took a moment to put his glasses back on his nose. “I take my torch and set the stream on Fire!”  
The stool creaked as Mike leaned back with a sigh. “I thought as much. The oil alights with a whoosh and burns its way back into the chamber, illuminating the way before you. From the depths of the glowing inferno a shriek cries out and humanoid figures can clearly be seen thrashing and writhing in pain as they are engulfed in the flames.”  
The party members looked at each other with wry grins. It wasn’t the first time that one of Jake’s simple but masterful plans had gotten them out of a pinch. “I’m rolling for spot.” Rob said, grabbing a d20 out of his shared collection of dice.  
As Mike got up from the table to get more pizza from the kitchen, he gave Rob a thumbs up. The kitchenette was nothing elaborate, just a corner of the living room designed for food preparation and such. Opening a box with peperoni-jalapeño, Mike snagged a slice and stuck it in his mouth. He took a bite and hastily swallowed before asking Joan if he could open the fridge to get some Dr. Pepper.  
“Sure, go ahead!” The Louisiana belle smirked as she cuddled more into her boyfriend’s side. “It’s all good. You can eat whatever you want in there. Just pick out what you want, although I would avoid the lasagna if I were you. It’s been in there for a while.”  
“Thank you Joan. I appreciate it.” Mike stuck the slice back in his mouth before reaching into the cool white box, and snagged a can. Walking back to the table he pulled the pizza out of his mouth. “What’d you get?”  
“Natural.” Rob said, throwing up a victory sign.  
Mike sighed. “Just ain’t my night I guess. The Gnome rogue peers into the darkness and is able to make out a large shape thrashing in the flaming water. There are several tentacle appendages whipping about it in agitation.”  
“So we just aggravated it?” Glancing over his glasses, Jake rubbed his chin.  
“Not for me to say, remember?”  
“Alright. Well can we shoot it with magic?” Joan suggested from her curled position, looking around the party for opinions. Everybody nodded. “Sweet! I move from the back of the pack to Jake’s left and prepare to cast a spell over my sweet Rob’s head.”  
The lovebirds chuckled and Rob gave his girlfriend a quick smooch on the cheek. Much to the mock horror of their friends.  
“No! Practice your sorcery elsewhere!” Mike threw his arms in from of his face.  
“It burns us precious!” Said Jake.  
“Burn the witch!” Nathanial added in his high, nasal voice.  
Rounds of laughs lasted a few minutes before drifting off. Joan and Catharine ended up trading positions so the druidess could heal anybody who got hit. Jake and Nathanial went to get pizza as strategies were whispered while the master of games sipped his soda. Outside the rain fell harder, forming into large puddles in the streets and low places. There were to be several flood warning for sure. The Texans mainly ignored it, each one of them had lived on the Edward’s Plateau. To them rain was a blessing that brought life to the land. Hurricanes and floods didn’t concern them. But Catharine was scared. She had an unshakable feeling something bad was occurring, and in her body she felt light jolts, like rogue nerves firing off or ethereal waves passing under her skin. Of present company she was probably the most open to different worldviews and ideas of how the world worked. Her mother was a Japanese-Korean woman who had raised her little girl in the security of the United States, teaching her that there was more to the world than the eye normally perceived. The insecure girl shook it off the best she could and tried to focus on the game. However, Catharine could not help but feel that powerful forces were in play.  
Unanimously they decided to advance slowly toward the now dead humanoids and the still swishing tentacles. “After getting close it appears as though the flame ahead of you vanishes, as if a wall suddenly shot up and blocked the view.”  
“Another spot check?” Jake asked, swirling a d20 in his palm.  
“Your choice.”  
Jake looked to the other players before rolling the die onto the crowded table. “Fifteen plus three is eighteen. What does that get me?”  
Draining the Dr. Pepper of its contents, Mike set the empty can back down with a satisfied sigh. “Seeing through the spell, you can clearly see the wall is a fabricated illusion. No more than that.”  
“We charge through it!” Nathanial pumped his thin-fingered fist.  
And charge they did. However, they were met by a fiery landscape. A tunnel wreathed in flame. Despite Joan’s repeated attempts to douse the flames in water the fire never so much as flickered.  
“Frickin’ illusions!” Joan huffed angrily, making a point to narrow her eyes and glare at Mike for a second. “Can’t tell what’s actually fire and what’s not.”  
“That’s what you get for failing a roll. Go again?”  
“Yeah.” Everybody rolled, but only Nathanial and his bad luck did not succeed.  
“Dang it.” Nathanial grumbled with a smile on his face. He was enjoying the game as much as the rest of them.  
The party was within thirty feet of the mystery opponent, a revolting fishlike amphibian with four swirling tentacles. It shrieked in a strange language before swimming towards them. Jake armored up while Catharine fired magic missile. Rob and Nathanial shot arrows at it. The Aboleth slithered and swam closer to them, inching its way close to affect them with either its slime or enslave one of them with its psionic attack. It got within thirty feet when Joan got fed up and made her move.  
Casting _Flaming Sphere_ , she moved the circular projectile towards the incoming Aboleth. The mucus cloud surrounding the fish-like aberration evaporated and its flesh began to burn away. While Catharine unleashed a _Wall of Stone_ spell behind the Aboleth, Rob’s character activated a _Wall of Fire_ scroll in front. Left between a rock and a fireplace the Aboleth withered away.  
Nathanial grinned. “Like shooting fish in a barrel.”  
“I ah, I’m pretty sure it’s more like cooking a fish over a fire Nate.” Catharine mumbled.  
All of them burst out laughing. However, the joke was short lived. Yellow light strobed outside of the window accompanied by the unending boom of thunder and shrieking of wind. The foundations of the white rent house rattled and the wood walls groaned. Before any of the now terrified and tensed-up college students could duck and cover for shelter from what they thought was a tornado it all ended. The wind and light and sound echoed into silence. Along with all the electricity, throwing the room into the eternal darkness from which panic attacks spawn.  
There were screams from Catharine while Joan tried to reach her in the dark; not having a good time of navigating around her boyfriend. Nathanial flipped out for a while, swearing at any and everything in a voice so high one would think there were two panicked girls instead of one. While Rob was trying to keep the girls in the same place Mike rummaged through his pockets and then his pack on the floor.  
“Please be there. Please be there. Please be there. Aha! Found it!” A few flicks later a small flame sprouted in Mike’s hand. When Joan gave him a curious look he shrugged and motioned to the small cigarette lighter. “Found it lying in the road when I was out walking a few days ago. Didn’t have a lot of juice so I figured I’d keep it.”  
Catharine calmed down somewhat after seeing light, composing herself even though she was bouncing off the walls on the inside. _I knew there was something that was going to happen! It’s all my fault. What am I going to do now? How do I tell them?_  
Mike was in the process of lighting a couple of candles when there was a knock on the door. “Jackson Police Department! Is anybody in there? Open up if you can hear me!”  
Handing one of the lit candles to Joan, Mike raised a questioning eyebrow. He glanced at Jake, Nathanial, Rob and Joan for approval as a second knock resounded at the door. Each nodded. The same thought had all crossed their minds, it was a little strange that a police car had showed up right after the lights had gone out. But then stranger things had happened. Mike walked through the narrow entry way and opened the door.  
A shockwave like an air blast knocked Mike back off his feet, shooting him back into the living room. As he struggled to get up figures in dark robes with weird glyphs and goat-headed pentagrams barged through the entryway brandishing what looked to be wooden walking sticks and Harry Potter wand knock-offs.  
No sooner had the words “Get down on the ground” escaped the assailant’s lips then Jake was all over the first guy that came out of the hall. The native of Kerrville had spent a large part of his childhood either working on his father’s farm, goofing around and getting into fights, or training in martial arts. Jake pounded the cloaked figure with jackhammer fists that did not relent until the poor fellow’s knees caved. Glowing little orbs lit at the end of the wands and walking sticks of the intruders and Jake barely dodged out of the way before a spout of flame engulfed the space where he had been.  
Seeing the opening the cloaked figures, magicians, whatever the hell they were, swarmed into the living room. Joan tried to rush to Rob with Catharine but was too late. Unknown hands and vice like arms stayed the insecure girl, constricting her in an unpleasant embrace. Catharine kicked and screamed, flailing in vain to try to scratch her assailants. Shrieking at them to let her go.  
“Shut the Fuck up!” A wand flickered in front of her eyes and a flame burning blue like an acetylene torch. “Do as we say or she dies!”  
Mike growled in self-disgust. There were too many unknowns. They did not know if that wand-thing was a torch or not. They did not even know if it worked or not. But they had produced flame before. He rebuked himself for not learning knife throwing skills when he had the chance. Slowly Mike raised his hands, they had little choice in the matter. If they were in captivity their captors could slip up any time. But here Catharine was the casualty waiting to happen. None of them wanted that. The others did likewise although Rob made sure to stand defensively in front of his love.  
Every fiber of Mike’s being wanted to act, wanted to bound across the room and tear these cowards limb from limb and then beat them to death with their detached appendages. But they had the trump card, a thing none of the men would risk. They held Catharine firmly on her knees with arms forced out to the sides.  
One of the robed intruders walked up to him, a large individual that looked fat by guessing proportions. “Kneel.” The nasal voice sounded like it had never gotten out its mom’s basement.  
Mike clenched his jaw but did as instructed. Anger burned in his eyes as he watched his guard. The big, cloaked man heaved back his walking stick and slammed it into Mike’s temple. Scenes that were not quite right spun in front of his eyes. He saw Catharine screaming again, but this time upside down and to the left. For some reason it was muffled heavily. Mike could not, for the life of him, figure out why. He tried getting up when he heard a higher voice that sounded like it had come out between whistling teeth, saying “hit him again”. Another stab into his temple and black static consumed his conscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always have a peep hole on your door. . . . . ALWAYS  
> THERE WILL EVENTUALLY BE SEX!


	2. Suprise Bitch!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The protagonists are kidnapped! Awakening to eldritch surroundings (totally not but still would make a good part of a horror novel) and horrible circumstance, they must survive by their wits and the keenness of their minds. Whatever will they do?  
> In all honesty we were REALLY pumped after getting the last chapter in that we spent the rest of that evening typing up the next one. It's a bit shorter than the first chapter, but we hope you still enjoy it. Here’s to you inspiration!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternating use of cuss words and cuss-fillers because of character. Don’t like it? Well sucks to be you, we’ve got character’s to maintain.  
> Using hentai doujinshi lines for foreplay. Inappropriate use of copy and paste imaging for clothing styles. Blaspheming of sacred anime characters. Horrible misuse of justice league fandom. A nerd who looks like a pig who also may or may not be a scientist (or mage). Cleanroom set up in a warehouse. Gender bender!  
> SEEEEXXXX!  
> Climax/orgasm denial. Cunninglingus. BDSM? Medical bondage that can still be considered bondage.  
> If you need us to explain to you that Italic sentences are the story version of thought bubbles you should probably consult you local English buff.  
> Also: DON'T TRY THIS STUFF AT HOME!!! Fictional characters are expendable, real people are not.  
> And don't do drugs. Drugs are bad.

Faint consciousness floated at the edge of Mike’s perception. Slowly his senses snapped back into attention, the acrid smell of bleach and disinfectant bit into his nostrils. The Texan had, despite most appearances and presumptions, had gained as much knowledge as he could on various situations. In the past it was to feed his vivid imagination and writing hobby; but it had evolved into something more. A contingency plan, or rather hundreds of them, just in case something exactly like this happened. Well, more like something like this. Or at least a little. Not everybody can be Batman.  
However, something was wrong. As he kept his eyes closed Mike reached out with his other senses, trying to get a feel for his surroundings before revealing that he was awake. There was that freaking persistent smell of examination doctor who was dating an herbalist who bathed in bleach. Freaking weird. There was a constant beeping that was either a cardiac monitor or someone’s phone, if the latter than it was getting annoying. A scrapping and loud, familiar crinkling of tarp came to him several feet to his left. Someone else was definitely in the same space with him. Someone relatively his size from the sound of it. As for feeling there was the tell tail prick of an IV needle in his arm, and although he could not be sure Mike had the feeling he was lying at an upward angle. Maybe sixty or seventy degrees from the ground. But it was not that. There was something else. Something else that was wrong.  
Slowly constricting and releasing his muscles ever so slightly, trying to make it appear as natural as he could, Mike stretched for the next ten minutes it seemed. From what he could tell he was cuffed to the flat table he was on with his arms down to his sides. But that was the least of his problems. Mike’s body felt wrong. It was not as hairy as it had been, nor as hard. In fact, he could not remember it ever being this soft. He felt all hot and bothered. Worst of all he could no longer feel his penis.  
Mike groaned inwardly as he flicked his eyes open experimentally. The walls were plastic, the floor was plastic, and the ceiling was plastic. All semi-transparent white and structured with PVC piping. There seemed to be various chemical and hospital equipment sorted in orderly fashion around the interior. An airtight cleanroom one would usually find in hospitals. Or virus apocalypse movies. And sure enough there was a rather heavy set person in a hazmat suit currently flipping through papers on a clipboard.  
But that was the least of his problems. Tied only at his wrists and angles Mike bent at the neck and waist to get a better look at himself. He had shrunk at least a foot, his chicken legs had become toned, and his waist seemed to have narrowed a bit. Or maybe reconfigured somehow be more feminine. Supple flesh pale gray in color poured like glossy cream over toned muscle and bound under a skin-tight indigo-black leotard. Delicate hands connected thin fingers to equally thin arms. The only visible body hair on him was a slight peach fuzz that he could barely see or feel. Worst of all, two apple-sized mounds protruded from his chest and they could be only one thing. Breasts.  
_Shit._ Mike thought to himself, nabbing the corner of his thin lip with an unusually sharp canine. He glanced around the lab and scored. A circular mirror sat a few feet away. What it was for Mike could not guess but he did not really care anyway. He wriggled himself until he could see his own reflection in the glass.  
Thin lips, small cute nose, large purple-amethyst eyes, and purple tinted hair. A heart-shaped face with large brow and pointed chin. _Shit upgraded to fuck. Alright, what the fuck? Either I’m in hell, or I’ve been swapped with Teen Titan’s TV version of Raven. Why!?! Also, why do I feel tingly in places I didn’t have before?_  
The crackling of tarp brought him back to the present. The fat quack was shambling toward him with labored steps. Mike leaned back onto the table, but kept his head level to stare at his captor. Whatever was done to him the teletubby was probably at fault. The tubbies always were creepy little buggers.  
Plastic hands removed the bubble head to reveal a chubby face full of strawberry blonde fuzz with overly large horn-rimmed glasses. The guy probably had not showered in a week and smelled of sweat and foul body odor mixed with the already persistent disinfectant. Mike turned her, no his, head to the side and tried not to gag as bubble boy wiggled his way out of his suit. Clearly the guy hung out in his mom’s basement. His hair was a rat’s nest, his scruff was bordering on radioactive cactus, he stank to high heaven, and the clothes he was wearing did not look or smell like they had been washed in a month. A pixilated version of the justice league symbols and underwear with a yelling Goku face at the crotch might pass for casual sometimes, but this was not the case. Stained with mustard, grease, sweat, and probably his spunk. The guys clothes were probably half of the odor issue.  
To make matters worse the guy actually leaned in and started to smell Mike up like a pig, looking Mike’s new feminine body with ogling eyes. _No, no, no. No. Don’t you even think about it. Don’t you fucking think about it._  
A wicked grin spread across his captor’s face as he chuckled, reaching a down to Mike’s penis. Nope. No more penis. He now had a pussy.  
Frick.  
“You’re about done cooking little hen. There’s only a couple of more things to do. An implant to put in, a few more libido potions, and the finalizing ritual. But I’m sure the boss wouldn’t mind if I got the first sip. Or gulp.” The nerd looking quack cackled at his own jokes. “I’m going to use your mouth as my own personal toilet.”  
_Wait. Did he just seriously-_  
Sausage fingers rubbed Mike’s stomach under the smooth one-piece before slowly roving down, teasing the edge of her precious new place. Mike gritted his teeth hard as those thick baby hands caressed the inside of his girly thighs. Heat was spreading from his stomach to his new pussy. Nerves were firing off on after another as the rough touch rubbed against his lower lips. Felt so good when the pig swiped across his clit. It was just once but the sensation was like fire and water raging through him.  
Sweat beaded on his brow. He was starting to heave in huge draughts of breath through gritted teeth just to keep a single moan from escaping. And he was getting wet as the man leaned in and actually had the balls to flick his hard clit.  
The way his bristles tickled her spandex covered skin while fingers spread the untouched petals of his flower. And that thick tongue feeling the hell out of his clit. His skin was fire and his mind liquid. He jerked against the chained bands in vain as he felt something building in the core of his body. Mike was so damn close to creaming for this punk.  
_Son of a Bitch! Why does it feel so good?_  
With Mike’s nipples jutting harder than a pair of diamonds, the lab quack moved his large hands up to grope the small mounds while he lashed his prey’s aching nub. Mike jerked back and forth in his bonds as his captor brought him closer and closer to that sweet, honey tasting madness. Where thought and reason were forgotten as hot passion overrode everything.  
He was panting now. Light little squeals flittered out of his mouth as he gritted his teeth even harder. Nails digging into the metal table beneath him, Mike no long new if he even wanted to fight this ecstasy. Girl cum was all but gushing out of his pussy as his captor continued to torment Mike’s petals. Suddenly the man engulfed Mike’s clit and pussy in one big slurp.  
The poor history major cried out at the sudden assault, small chest heaving and panting as sweat trickled off of him. He was not prepared for this sort of thing. But the man would not relent. That mouth sucked like a vacuum. It sucked so hard Mike could have sworn his pussy was turning inside out. His voice turned from squeals to whimpers as he was brought closer and closer to that breaking point. That strike of greased lightning as every nerve in his female body fired away in abandon.  
But it never came. The suction ceased, leaving an overgrown man-pig slobbering all over Mike leotard covered pussy. No matter how much Mike gyrated or wriggled his new body the man’s fat lips would always be there. Teasing only at the edge of Mike’s reach. When the effeminate history major finally settled down onto the table he gasped desperately for air, pulling it in with huge gulps. And the suction started again.  
Mike groaned as the swirling tongue and brushing hands brought him to the edge again. He fought back the sensations, telling himself the man would just betray these feelings in the end. He could not help it. It felt darn good.  
Saliva and girl cum soaked his inner thighs as Mike neared his second orgasm. The ministrations echoed and vibrated though his pussy. Burned through his blood. Nerves pulsed from the top of his head down to his tiny mounds, deep into the soaking depths of his girl parts, down to his pulsing clit, and all the way back. Mike groaned as he was nearly on the point of begging for the man to finish him off. Give him that extra push into nirvana.  
Again the titillations stopped just short of granting Mike his much needed release. Heady eyes gazed up at the transformed, panting girl. The nerd-quack, fetish priests, whatever the hell he was, grinned lasciviously up at Mike. Girl cum and saliva dripped and oozed slowly off his mouth and chin, clinging to the bristle of mangy whiskers.  
“Bet if feels weird huh? Being in a strange, lewd body while letting out such sweet moans.” Mike’s captor went down to give the new pussy a quick slurp which caused a straining jerk at the binds and an open mouthed moan from his captive. “Even if you keep saying no in your head, your body speaks the truth.”  
Mike dragged his head down hard from his sexual state, forcing himself to think and analyze. _Is this guy for real? He’s seriously spouting hentai doujinshi lines at me? The frick?_  
“You’re already so wet. You love this don’t you? It’s like your pussy is asking for me.”  
_Really? REALLY? You are seriously doing this?_ Mike clenched his hands, straining ever so slightly at his bonds. _Admittedly I’m technically still a guy. Right? But still, even if I haven’t gotten laid yet, I know it’s fucking evil to get everything out of sex and not give anything._  
“Don’t worry pet.” Basement boy cooed. “I’ll make sure to cum inside and give you some nice loving.”  
“Like hell you will!” Spheres of darkness eclipsed Mikes hands, outlining only the shape of them in white.  
The air thrummed as the lights flickered and the machinery beeped rapidly. Tendrils flickered out from the abysmal orbs, severing the banded manacles like paper in the blink of an eye. Mike grabbed the man’s head between her hands and thought of nothing but squeezing his brains out. The pitch shadows enveloped the captor’s head in one large orb outlined only in white. There was a high scream like that of a little girl and the man’s head went boom.  
Scarlet painted the walls with chunks of white bone and pinkish-white bits of brain. What little was left of his head, only the neck and dangling lower jaw, swayed a little before the carcass fell back onto the tarped floor. Mike just sat there on the table for a moment breathing hard. The black and white orbs blinked rapidly then faded all together.  
_Head explosion. Metaphysical boner is now gone._ Mike grunted. _Fatality! Bane wins._  
Looking down at his dress up costume Mike grimaced. It looked like he had gone through one hell of a period. Blood splattered up from his girl groin in a macabre red.  
“Not going to wash out any time soon.” Mike mumbled to himself, his voice now feminine than before. _Didn’t really even like the darn thing. At least it had curves._  
Awash with blood, the cleanroom now looked like a redder version of a Jackson Pollock painting. Maybe a bit more splashy though. Whatever. To each his own. Mike carefully removed the IV line before undoing the bands around his ankles. Though carefully searching around the lab for any sign of his old clothes the only thing Mike could scrounge up was a jeweled belt and Blue-black cape that was obviously supposed to complete the Raven costume. Snatching the unwanted clothes Mike sighed, closing his eyes and letting stress go out with his breath leaving only the weight of the situation on his mind. It was a technique he prided himself in, working on it since middle school back in Texas.  
Mike came to the conclusion that this was a sort of waiting room where the patient healed up from whatever operation they went though as well as receive any final treatment necessary. Meaning that he had to find everybody else and get out of Dodge.  
All he needed was a door.  
Throwing the cape around his narrow shoulders and keeping the belt in hand Mike began his investigation. He set about tapping and tracing around the room but found no entrance. If people came in here they were either able to pass through walls or they had an invisible door. Or invisible elevator, one of the two.  
Correction: All he needed was a cutting instrument, preferably a knife.  
Fortunately there was a small supply of medical scalpels in the corner. Mike took two, using the first to cut a box out of the tarp and palming the second one. He had no idea how he was able to mimic the powers of a fictional comic book character but he also didn’t know whether they would suddenly fizz out in a fight or not. Add to the fact that his body was weaker than it was before and he was having a tough enough time trying to readjust to a new center of gravity. The spare scalpel was a safe bet. A contingency plan in case he had to do something drastic.  
Making his way out of his hospitalized metamorphic chamber Mike found little but shadows awaiting him. The white lights of the cleanroom had dimmed from the shadow spheres and left little light to see by from the outside. Quickly shifting around the cube, Mike saw several more like it behind his own. There looked be a single guard, another fat guy, staring at the side wall. Either he was deaf, had earphones in, or had somehow ignored that last scream and the ensuing spatter.  
_Freaking fat nerd guys. You’d think there was an evil Dragon-con convention where these guys were recruited._ Mike frowned slightly. Worst. _Guards. Ever. Video game opponents had more situational awareness than this guy. You would think that at least he would say “I think I heard something”._  
The guard shifted a little, a glowing red ember hovered around his lips and there was a sound of released breath accompanied by the smell of pot smoke. That just about said it all. Mike began thinking through several strategies when he heard the “shrick” sound of cutting tarp. The guard had barely turned around when an angry shadow was upon him. Thudding punches struck the big man with practiced precision, landing in all the right places to keep the man from crying out. A quick kick to the knee at just the right angle knocked the big man off balance and he tumbled forward. The lean shadow did a little jump, grabbing his opponent’s head with both hands and forced his knee into the guard’s face. Mike winced at the crack that signaled the breaking of bone.  
“Karma, bitch.” A faint voice breathed.  
Going down with the guard’s momentum, the figure carefully landed on his feet. He seemed to look around for a while as if searching for something or someone. Seeing Mike he cautiously waved at him and crept forward. Mike waved back and beckoned him over. The jacked twenty-three year old fortunately still had his clothes on. Lucky him.  
“What’s your name? Are you from around here?” Jake whispered, only slightly out of breath as he crouched next to Mike. His arms draped over his knees and his hands grasped each other lightly.  
A quick secondary look and a glance over his shoulder just to make sure there were no more guards. The cube next to them was dim but it still cast light, and they were in it. Better to be safe than sorry.  
“Dude. It’s me.”  
Jake furrowed his brow as he turned his head back to the strange girl in front of him. “Me who?”  
“Me, Mike.” The girl was straight faced, all her features passive. She was serious.  
“Mike?” Jake cocked an eyebrow this time.  
“Yeah?”  
“What the hell?”  
The grey skinned girl threw up her arms in exasperation and huffed dejectedly. “I don’t know. I woke up like this. Did you have a superman suit on before you came here?”  
Jake snorted a silent chuckle at the inside joke. He had always been “superman”, pushing his own body both physically and mentally. Whenever he got sick, which he rarely did, he got depressed and would go on like he was dying. Mike and Nate had often made the comment that he was poisoned by kryptonite.  
“I don’t suppose you could give me something the two of us would know?” Jake asked with that familiar mischief in his eye.  
The girl who called herself Mike sighed. “Fine. When we were visiting Joan’s folks a last Thanksgiving you told me about the scars you have on your arm and neck one night. The arms are from one of your father’s dogs who got antsy in the barn pen and latched onto you out of stress. The one on your neck is from you not saying the correct command to a former German police dog. You said ‘attack’ instead of come. The dog had you by the back of the neck before you knew what was happening.”  
Jake nodded, rubbing the nerve-damaged scar spots on his left forearm. Normally someone might perceive them as muscle because Jake was already cut for his size. But the wounds had remained, and were clear once pointed out the first time.  
“Were you the only one in there?” Jake pointed at the cube.  
Mike nodded. “There was another one of those fat guys dressed up for the nuclear apocalypse. But I had to kill him to get out.”  
Jake gave a knowing nod back. “Hey, you know who you look like?”  
“Don’t remind me.” Mike hissed before he could go any further. “What about the others?”  
“I got Cathy out. She’s in the one right there.” Jake pointed to the cleanroom cube he came from.  
Mike nodded and both of them shuffled over to the pipe structure. Catharine was a bit confused to see Jake tagging along with an unfamiliar female face. They dragged her out none the less. The rumpled duff was also allowed to keep her clothes, although she blushed deeply when Jake glanced at her with her midriff showing.  
They were about to move onto the next cube when the farthest cleanroom burst out in a muffled shout. There was the sound of scuffling and figures tussled with one another. It appeared that someone had snuck in and was choking the other out. The choked man collapsed and the choker went moving about the room. Mike tapped Jake’s shoulder and hand motioned if they should go forward. Jake nodded, leading the group to the cube in the middle. The English major put his open hand up. Stay.  
Mike nodded he understood, crouching close to Catharine. A few quick cuts and a grunt later Jake was back with Nate. The skinny Creative Writing major rubbed his thin wrists to get the circulation back in and the discomfort out. He also paused at the sight of Mike. The pale skinned girl frowned back.  
Satisfied that all had gone well so far, Jake led them around the other side of Nathanial’s cube. The group moved up towards the cleanroom at the far end and as they approached Rob and Joan exited the plastic prison, Joan leaning on her boyfriend for support. Together they rushed over to help their friends. Mike went to help support Joan’s other side, taking his friends arm over his neck and letting her lean.  
“That all of them?” Nate whispered.  
Jake nodded. “That should be all of them.” He turned to Joan and Rob. “You both okay?”  
“They gave Joan a sedative. She says it was a small and watered down dose of rohypnol stuck into her IV. According to her the effects should wear off in five to seven hours.” Rob adjusted Joan’s arm around his neck.  
“Date rape drugs? Seriously?” The pale girl grumbled, staring in thought at Joan’s face.  
“Who are you?”  
“That’s Mike.” Jake stated straight faced. His mind was already elsewhere, trying to think of a safe way out of this unfamiliar abode.  
“Seriously?” Nathanial almost shouted. “He looks just like-”  
Mike cut him off. “If anybody so much as thinks that I look like that character, I will personally give you a swift kick to the balls.”  
Nate fell silent, but could not help the slight smirk on his face despite their sad circumstance. They had survived but were now lost, and had no clue where they were. Or for that matter what time it was. Jake had checked the guards for easily accessible phones. But those that did have them were password protected and they just did not have the time. There could be reinforcements or checkups. Regardless, they could not remain here.  
With Jake in the lead the party of friends to the side of the large building where they followed the metal sheet wall down to the front. The patter of rain could be heard as they passed sheet after sheet of dust covered metal, their fingers accumulating little mounds of dust as they went along. A few minutes feeling out the end they had reached revealed an unlocked door. Swinging the door open they were greeted by a surging downpour.  
The light rain they had left behind at Joan’s rent house had changed to a torrent. Golden light from streetlamps illuminated a lightly flooded street with torn sidewalks on either side. Behind the lamp lit telephone poll across the street there was empty blackness.  
Turning back to the others Jake raised his voice to be heard over the roar of pouring water. “We have got to get out of here! Whoever these guys are, they know us. They planned this out enough to grab us in a blackout that they probably planned. We can’t go back to campus!”  
“I agree!” Mike’s new female voice yelled in agreement. “We got to find a place to lay low for a while.”  
Looks were given as each of them exchanged troubled glances. This was real. Plots of bad guys and kidnappings were at their doorstep. They could not fight. If they went to the cops, even if they could find a police cruiser or telephone around, what were they going to tell them? Occultists conspired with the quack league in order to conduct human experiments? Time would come when they could go to the authorities. For now the only choice now was to run and hide.  
All of them nodded with determination in their faces, and slight fear in their eyes. They went out the door and disappeared into the cacophony and dark of the rainy Mississippi night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What happens when you don’t let a girl get off? Now you know. If we used “her” instead of “him” it doesn’t matter now because he’s a girl!  
> Is it truly a sex scene if neither party cums? Is it actually sex if they’re just making out? Seriously, are we the only people who think about these sort of things?  
> Guys, really. If you feel like you want to comment go ahead. We could use the feedback. And ideas. And . . . . And other things that we don't know but somehow need.


	3. Hospitality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mwahahaha!!! Mike changes his name and accepts his girlhood. But also is in danger of catching a cold due to his body’s lack of insulation. The bad guys didn’t think that one through very well. With newly dubbed name Mike is going to have to adjust to his new body as well as come to grips will all their future possibilities (there is magic, they have to find someplace to run, etc.). With no resources, no cash, no money, how will the group fare on the run? It’s a harsh world for those who are not prepared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven’t figured it by now but the month is around April/May for the time setting. (The year is also current, sort of).  
> DRUGS ARE SO BAD!  
> Sorry if this one is slow going and jumpy but we’re trying to fit a lot of story (not to mention character and explanation) into one chapter. Although in all technicality, this one is about the length of an actual book chapter. Which is what we’re aiming for.  
> Peanuts are drugs. Drugs are peanuts. Anybody who say’s differently is scheming something.  
> SKYRIM REFERENCES!  
> Smoking of cigars?  
> The final transition to girlhood.  
> CLASH BETWEEN CHRISTIAN BELIEF AND WHAT REALITY IS TELLING THEM (THE CHARACTERS)!  
> If you didn’t know already, Joan knows a bit of conversational French.  
> Tobacco smoking.  
> There’s a lot of ‘nodding’ but it’s needed, sorry. (You don't think it's a big deal until you see people doing a LOT of it in real life). Things you did not know! =)  
> The clash of worldviews versus reality (if you do not know what a worldview is you need to look it up. It’s important).  
> Random relationship advice.  
> So, just saying, if you all want to you can go online or scheme amongst yourselves and tell us how you think we did on the settings and scenery. And characters. And anything really. Seriously, feel free to comment.

Cold, unrelenting rain pounded against the ground as six soaked stragglers wandered their way in the direction of passing headlights. Somehow they had made it out of the darkness behind them, walking west along a road that was forested on one side and had odd businesses on the other, before reaching what had to be Interstate 20 West.  
As the ragged group reached the embankment they all but collapsed, leaning on each other to keep from sitting on the slippery ground. None of them was dressed for this weather, and the thought on everybody’s mind was that if they did not get shelter or transportation soon one of them was likely to contract a cold. Or worse, pneumonia.  
Nathanial and Catharine felt useless. Of the six they had done the least of any of them. They were the ones who were rescued, the ones dragged out of their imprisonment, the ones who followed. It stung but there was nothing that they could do. Catharine hugged herself. Her wool sweater was already soaked and it was going to get worse. But it was the only thing protecting her from the rain. However, it was not just the rain that weighed down her shoulders. She had sensed something was wrong and said nothing. As she stood with her back turned to the others she watched the passing rays of headlights. Guilt nagged at her soft heart. And a small voice echoed in her soul, “It’s your fault”.  
Jake was no better. Though he kept himself going he could not but hear his own voice bounce around inside his head. Each had a different tone and opinion, and wanted to be heard. It made concentration difficult. On top of it all he was getting tired. If he did not get his people out of the cold they would be at risk. If they had to go to the hospital they would be at risk. If they were discovered they would be at risk. If they went to the cops they would be at risk. Jake shook his head and put a palm to his forehead. Peace. I need peace.  
Shifting more of Joan’s weight against his own, Rob squinted at the heavens. The rain was not going to abate any time soon. He silently thanked Mike, or the girl who claimed to be him, for giving Joan his cape. It did not look like it was very useful but unlike the others Joan had no coat or jacket. She had been dragged out of the house in nothing but a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. With her in a drug induced state Joan’s immune system was lowered. If girl-Mike had not given her the cape Joan would likely have caught a cold already. Joan stirred, lifting her head to look at him. Rob’s heart melted in agony at the sight. Her eyes were unfocused and she barely knew what was happening around her. He smiled at her. It was weak and pathetic, but he wanted her to feel safe even if it was a false safety inside her delusion. Joan’s face lit up in a sloppy smile. The knot in Rob’s guts twisted. She really had no idea what was happening to them.  
He gave his girlfriend a wink before shifting her again on his side, doubly grateful that girl-Mike had supported Joan’s other side all the way here. Then he felt something give. Joan’s weight was tugging him toward her, toward the ground. Rob grunted as he carefully reached around Joan’s side and pulled her loose form toward him. He did not know the whole story behind girl-Mike but he figured he did not want to be touched too much. As Joan’s weight shifted entirely into his grasp Rob realized what was wrong. Mike was not there.  
Careful not to unbalance himself, Rob turned. The small, grey girl was curled on the muddy ground. Just lying there as earth was washed away beneath her, and the heavens poured down heavy rain on his head.  
“HEY!” Rob yelled over the passing vehicles and the torrential rain.  
Nathanial, Catharine, and Jake turned to see what the matter was. As soon as his eyes fell on the collapsed body of one of his longest friends, Nate rushed forward. Crouching down, he hesitantly reached out with thin, trembling fingers to turn the girl’s head. It was almost impossible to see clearly in the crappy lighting but it looked like she was still breathing.  
A semi roared by, sending a wave of air and water scattering into the group.  
Girl-Mike shivered and curled further into Nate’s arms. His lips were moving but Nathanial could not quite make it out. Bending his head, he could barely make out words all but whisper out of trembling lips. “So cold. So cold. So cold. So cold.”  
Time was running out. With no money to their name, their wallets and phones gone, they were as good as naked. Even accessories, such as Jake’s pocket knife, were gone. Nate awkwardly pulled girl-Mike’s form into a princess carry and trudged up to Jake; grimly looking his friend in the eye. They needed to get out of here. Now.  
Jake nodded, moving down to help Rob as he jerked his chin up at the road. The group trudged up the short slop against the rain. In the bright headlights they appeared as drenched spirits, depressed and despairing. Desperately they tried waving down vehicle after vehicle that passed them by in a wave of scattered rain. But no one stopped for the soaked fugitives.  
Blowing rivulets of rain out of his eyes, Nathanial tried to keep himself from spewing cusswords right and left. Not only had nobody even so much as slowed down to see what was their problem but girl-Mike was getting heavy. He was never one to exercise outside of the few taekwondo classes he took with Jake. Muscles atrophied if you did not maintain them. Something that he was keenly reminded of as his arms started burning.  
Of the whole group Rob was the only one not affected by the rain. Except for the water making his button up, his vest, and his dress pants all soggy Rob felt fine. And comfortably warm.  
Their Samaritan came as a white passenger van that slowed and pulled over a few feet ahead of them, emergency lights winking. Tired of being out in the never ending downpour, the group went to it like it was a magic limousine that had dropped out of the sky. The side door popped open and slide audibly to the side. Inside was mostly empty. Besides the middle aged driver, there was a concerned couple in their late twenties who were wearing summer camp T-shirts sitting in the middle. Before slipping in to the beckoning sanctuary Jake noticed a small sign on the side of the van that read: Fondren Church.  
“Cum’on in! Get yourselves out of that rain! C’mon now.” The driver waved them in hurriedly, his white Mississippi drawl familiar to their ears. The passengers likewise beckoned them in, helping Mike’s feminine form into the front so that he could lie in the seat a little with Nathanial and Joan with Rob in the back.  
“A bit o’ rain never hurt nobody but stay in it too long an’ you’re gonna catch a cold!” Here, let me turn on the heater.” The driver adjusted the van’s AC temperature controller as Jake climbed into the front passenger seat. “So y’all look like you come from a convention o’ sorts, but I reckon you should be heading back to a college dorm or house or somethin’. Where can we take you?”  
Nathanial felt girl-Mike tug on his sleeve. His large, purple eyes flickered open and his cute, trembling lips were trying to form something. Leaning down Mike whispered into Nate’s ear as his teeth chattered. The Creative Writing major could barely make out, “Gilbert Louisiana. South of Winnsboro. Flea Market. Family friend. Say itz emergency.”  
Jake was trying to formulate an answer. Rob sat with mostly unconscious Joan, torn between voicing their destination and keeping Joan close. He could suggest that they drive to his home, but his father would hate him for it and yell at him when nobody could hear. He ask to go to Joan’s house but then her parents would wonder why they had shown up so suddenly. There would be a scramble to accommodate six people and more explaining to do. They needed something. Anything.  
“Do you know a town called Winnsboro?” Nathanial spoke up.  
“Yeah, I know it. I’ve got some folks in Winnsboro, they work at the town library.” The driver nodded, talking while he switched off the emergency blinkers and pulled back onto the interstate.  
“There’s a town south of there called Gilbert. Could you take us?” Jake looked back at Nathanial questioningly. Nate tilted his head and pointed down at girl-Mike with his eyes. Jake frowned but nodded.  
“Well sure we can take you. I don’t really know the place but it shouldn’t be too hard to find.” The driver rummaged in his pocket as he turned into the left-hand lane. Darkness was briefly alleviated by the glow of his smart phone. “We’re headed for Natchitoches. My cousin Jeff back there and his fiancé wanted to come with me to the family reunion. Winnsboro ain’t too far. But why do you want to go all the way to a small little thing like Gilbert? Shouldn’t y’all be back in school or something?”  
Nate was fumbling with his words but Jake, usually one with a decent back up plan, tagged in. “A good friend of ours is in a spot. His father is dying and since we know the family well we thought it polite to show up to be supportive.”  
Each conscious member of the group held their breath as the driver mulled it over. “Well I guess that makes sense. How’d you end up on the side of the road?”  
“Our car broke down but there’s not much time. He’s not expecting us but if you could get us there quickly. We would like to get there as soon as possible.” Jake flatly stated.  
“Hmm, all right. You’d best get comfortable then. It’s a long ways to Winnsboro.” Nathanial breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at girl-Mike and silently thanked him for the assist. He did not know who or where they were going to stay, but Mike had never failed when asked to deliver in a pinch. It did not matter if it was a shack or a missile silo, Mike had directed them to a destination where they could stay for a time.  
The couple dragged out a few hoodies they had packed and the men averted their eyes to give the girls some privacy. Joan’s t-shirt was mostly dry since girl-Mike had sacrificed his cape thing. But Catharine needed to get out of the soaked sweater she had on. Nathanial slipped Mike into one of the hoodies the best he could but with the wet one-piece swimsuit he was wearing he did not know if it would do any good.  
It fascinated him and made his heart ache at the same time, seeing Mike like this. The pair had always agreed that chivalry was not dead. Their upbringing and attitudes towards the treatment of women, children, and elderly reflected that. But seeing his companion since his early teens like this really brought it full circle. Mike was in the small body of a young woman, looking frail and weak. When he was still a man Mike would have filled out the hoodie, maybe commenting it was too short at the waist or arms. But now he was like a child in a blanket. The hoodie was baggy on his tiny frame.  
Girl-Mike groaned and stirred a little. A lock of dark violet hair falling across his face. Nathanial reached to push it back behind Mike’s ear but stopped half way. He froze in the illumination of passing headlights as the rain knocked incessantly on the van. It was the normal thing to do. Everybody did it usually. The girl’s hair got in the way and the guy would gently brush it away. At least that was the way he had always knew it. But this was different. Nathanial’s heartbeat pounded in his ears as he stared then withdrew his hand. Mike could gripe about girl hair being in his eyes later if he wanted to. For now, it would be better to not rethink their entire friendship over a gesture.  
All that was left was the exceedingly long car trip to wherever the heck Gilbert was. The one thing Nathanial forgot about was the young couple in the car. Fifteen minutes out of Jackson the young man began questioning him about Nathanial’s life which led to the young man spilling half his life story which led to Nathanial having to haphazardly come up with details from his own life like why he was going to college and yada, yada, yada. If he had to take any more of this his inner introvert was going to implode. Nate thanked God when Joan finally regained her senses enough to ask if they could pull over use the bathroom.  
They all piled out save for Jake, who was temporarily in a deep theological conversation with the driver about Christian reformist thought, and girl-Mike who was still unconscious in his swimsuit and hoodie.  
While Nate made a bee line for the Chevron bathroom for the chance to have some peace and quiet, Joan and Catharine hobbled into the little girl’s room. When the counter clerk made a questioning look, Catharine smiled and just said “she’s diabetic”. Before they could go in Rob flagged them down, first going over to the fridge and grabbing a large water, then paying for it at the counter. He gave the cold plastic to Catharine and told her to have Joan drink it. When Catharine quirked an eyebrow at the spare change he slid into his pocket he mumbled something about his habit of stashing cash under his belt. She nodded before disappearing into the forbidden realm known as the women’s restroom.  
Catharine did as instructed and gave the refrigerated water to Joan. The light-eyed Chemistry major mouthed a dull thanks as she sat down in the oval office and relaxed. As she watched to make sure her friend did not fall over, Catharine bit on her thumbnail.  
_What are we doing? Is it safe to take off like this? Just hitch a ride with a church group as they go to a family reunion. Sure, that’s normal. Nothing fishy about that. Nothing at all._ Catharine yelped as she accidently bit into her thumb. She sighed as a small droplet of blood pooled on the digit. _The comfort, the warmth; the peace. Where has it all gone? Was it taken from us by those men? Are we now but leaves blowing in the storm? At the mercy of fate or destiny or the machinations of man._  
“It’ll be okay Catty cakes.” Joan mumbled, taking the duff’s bleeding hand. “We’ll be all right. You just got to wearther away the storm.”  
“Uhm, thanks Joan. I um, I really needed that. Thanks.”  
Joan giggled dizzily and reached down to knead her privates. Catharine gently slapped the naughty hand and clasping it in her own to keep it from idle business. Maybe somethings would be better sorted out in good time.  
Catharine went into the other stall to do her own business before checking back on Joan. The ignorant girl had gone to sleep, head propped against the wall with some drool awkwardly slipping from her mouth. She said she would be like this for another four or three hours? Catharine whispered a Romani curse under her breath. Something her step-grandmother taught her along the lines of whoever had done evil may their balls fall off and they become the toys of dogs. Or something like that. Giving a sigh and swiping at a tear not yet fallen, Catharine smiled a little as she hoisted Joan up from the toilet seat. It was a struggle getting her skinny jeans back on but the shy, dark haired girl managed.  
With all of the passengers accounted for and having done whatever business they wanted to get done, the white van pulled out of the Chevron station and back onto the interstate. As the road flowed by one by one they passed into sleep. Only Jake stayed awake. Keeping a watchful eye on the road and a constant conversation to keep his mind going.  
The storm passed over them. Listlessly floating toward the unforeseeable horizon. Soon they were going south down 17 into Winnsboro. 17 clashed with Front street and was beaten, becoming subservient to the 425 road. As they rode the damp streets even Jake slipped into slumber. His body was already pumping hard usually and the added stress was not doing him any favors. Jake’s eyes shut for the short drive to Gilbert. It was not much but it would have to do.  
When the Fodren Church bandwagon pulled into town the driver cranked his head around and asked where he should drop them off. The violet haired girl surprised them all by slowly sitting up groggily.  
“Could you drop us off at the flea market?” He asked softly. “It’s the red building that will be on your right.”  
“Can do miss.” The driver nodded, moving forward in his seat. He slowed the van to get a better look at all the buildings that came into his headlights.  
Sure enough, there it was. A long, red, brick building but not built of red brick. A large sign proudly proclaimed in styled letters ‘Flea Market’. The white background was decorated by a few bricks painted in a lighter reddish. Assorted furniture sat in complacent disuse, untouched by any previous rain. Pulling off the road, the driver parked in front of the closed market.  
“Are you sure you want to park here?” He asked glancing around. It looked largely abandoned until it would open up tomorrow.  
Girl-Mike nodded as he slumped out of the car with Nathanial’s assistance. “I just need to borrow your phone for a call.”  
“Well if you say so.” The driver was hesitant to leave these kids here. Even if it was a small town, you did not just leave youngsters out on the curb. Let alone girls who were tired. “Here you go.”  
Nodding her thanks as the others piled out of the car, girl-Mike hesitated inside the giant hoodie. Recalling random numbers was never his strong suit. Slowly, he tapped out the phone number by connecting image related memories to numerals. Rob eased Joan into a cushioned chair next to its identical twin in front of the store. Both were on sale. Jake slipped out of the front, rubbing his eyes around the bridge of his nose while he leaned his back against the passenger door. Catharine sat down in front of the store door looking more than a little dejected.  
The line rang a few times before the voice of a young man picked up. “I am really sorry to bother you but I need a favor. You know Daniel Curwood’s younger brother Mike? Yeah the guy who helped you at the wedding. He said he would call you if he needed anything while in Louisiana. I hate to put you in a spot but me and my friends need a place to stay for the night.” Girl-Mike spoke softly into the iphone, trying to keep the driver from overhearing.  
_I initiated this. I don’t want it more complicated than it already is. Lying won’t get you very far. We can’t let him get involved. I can’t let him get involved. Stick as close to the truth as you can and pray for the best._ Mike snagged the corner of his lip while waiting for a response. “Yes, that’s right. Mike Curwood. Yeah. We’re at the Flea Market on the corner of Gilbert and Wyatt. Thank you so much. There’s six of us. Is that too much? We could always try to get a place somewhere else if you can’t do anything. Oh, okay. Again, thank you. Alright, see you in a few minutes.”  
The small, grey-skinned girl handed the phone, slipping a loose lock of dark violet shoulder length hair behind her ear. “Thank you Sir, for taking us all this way.”  
“Nah, no problem. I just hope you friends father pulls through.”  
“Yeah.” Girl-Mike glanced sideways at Nate and Jake. “Me too.”  
“Y’all have a good night, stay safe!” The young bride-to-be waved from the middle seat.  
“Oh! Wait! Your hoodie!” Girl-Mike did a hop and a skip as the van braked.  
The former owner popped her head out the passenger widow. “Keep it sweetie. there’s more where that came from. God bless you!”  
“God bless you too!” Girl-Mike called back as the church van did a U-turn and pulled back onto the highway. _If there is a God who allows such things to happen. Ah, who am I kidding? This could be a LOT worse._  
A few minutes later a 1980’s Buick station wagon puttered up from the recessive darkness to pull up beside them. The passenger window rolled down and the driver, a short and chubby thirty-year old with a quirky smile and glasses, waved his ringed hand at the depressed looking group of runaways.  
“You the one that called me out?” The Louisiana boy gestured to girl-Mike.  
Nodding, the former male stepped tentatively up to the car. Sharp asphalt spearing the soles of his new feet. “I am.”  
“Okay. Well pile in! Are y’all going to stay out there all night? C’mon.”  
“Thank you.” Girl-Mike bowed his head slightly.  
“Ah it’s no problem.” Their new host said, looking around to make sure everybody got in. “My wife is visiting her family up in Missouri. It’ll be a few months before the baby’s done cookin’ so she’s seein’ the family. Meanwhile I’m here working to make way for our new baby girl.”  
“c-Congratulations.” Catharine spoke softly as she buckled into the springy cushioned seats.  
“Thanks! I don’t believe I know most of you, my name is Jim Forman.” The driver, Jim, lifted a hand as he glanced back at his anonymous passengers.  
Girl-Mike gave introductions from the passenger seat. “That’s Nathanial and Jake in the back. Catharine is the dark-haired girl with the hoodie. The love birds are Joan and Rob.”  
“And you are?”  
A moment’s pause seemed to hang in waiting for the girl’s answer.  
_This is it I guess. No going back? Only hope now is to find the guy responsible for all of this. Hope for some kind of refund. But until then, might as well get used to it._ The girl once called Mike sighed heavily. _It’s gonna be one of those years. Damn it._  
Jake and Nathanial were on the edge of wondering if they should try to cover for their friend when the quiet girl spoke up. “You can call me Ravyn. Ravyn Muir.”  
“Raven? As in the-”  
“Like the DC character, yes. Mom was a little weird. Not to mention I was supposedly born coming out of a comic book convention. You’re supposed to substitute the ‘E’ for a ‘Y’ though. Don’t particularly know why Mom did that, but hey, who’s to judge a woman in child birth?”  
“Doctors.” Jake mumbled under his breath.  
Jim nodded as he drove them back onto the highway only to exit a few yards later. “Huh, that is weird. I don’t suppose most of y’all from Texas?”  
Ravyn coughed a little before nodding. “Me, Nathanial, and Jake.”  
“Ah. That explains the accent. So how are you related to Mike Curwood?” Jim glanced at his passenger as he pulled onto a long country road lit by silver glow of a full moon.  
“Friend, ex-girlfriend, and classmate.” She rested her elbow on the window ledge and supported her head in her hand as she gazed up at the star dotted sky. Ravyn coughed again before she added with a croaky voice, “Specifically in that order.”  
“Oh, so you go to Belhaven with Mike?”  
Nate flinched but Ravyn nodded. “Used to. But I’m taking a semester off. Just to get my head straight y’know? I went through some stress after Mike and I broke up. He tried to let me down gently but I ended up pushing him off till before finals. Fault is mine. And I’m dealing with the backlash.”  
Jake squinted. _Did he just use my breakup with Erika as a backstory?_  
“I understand. College isn’t all you think it is going in. What year are you? Sophomore?” Jim asked as they pulled off asphalt and onto a dirt road hedged by trees.  
“Senior, actually. Why? Do I look younger?” Sitting up, Ravyn glanced between the road and their driver. Her purple eyes glinted with interest in the moonlight.  
“You look like you just finished your first semester. You have a somber look and act more mature that a Freshman, that’s why I guessed Sophomore. But you don’t really look a day over nineteen.” Their Louisiana host admitted.  
“Huh.” Ravyn went back to pondering the shadows and moonlight on the road. Her mind whirling with new thoughts as they pulled up to a small grey-blue house with a white post porch.  
A barking dog greeted them as they detracted themselves from the cramped station wagon. Ravyn-Mike barely got out of the car when she started coughing terribly. Their new host hurried them inside, commanding the dog to be silent as he went.  
The inside of the house smelled of wood and tobacco smoke, and an overriding scent of aged pine. Wood floors, though scratched and darkened with age, gleamed loyally in the dim glow cast by the living room light patterned with colored glass. There were several small corners with clumps of clothes or boxes or books, indicating that this house had either belonged to an older person at one time or that the couple hardly ever had company. The trim matched the wood floors, while the walls and door trim were more off white and greyish. Probably aged that way after several decades. As the group was steered into the living and dining room, Jim helped Ravyn and Joan into antique wood chairs around an equally old dining table with a quilt table cloth. Their short but energetic host bustled through a small door frame into the kitchen. There was a clattering of metal and ceramic clings, the hiss and whoosh of a gas burner; and Jim came back out looking pleased with himself.  
“Tea will be ready in a few minutes. I have a spare room where we planning to put the baby in. I can bring out two spare mattresses and some blankets. You guys will either have to sleep on the couch or the floor.” Jim motioned with his hands, keeping them close to his barrel chest and slightly fatty gut.  
“It’s okay. I prefer the floor anyway.” Jake half-groaned from his collapsed position on the table.  
The others nodded in turn. Rob helped Joan into a narrow hallway perpendicular to the kitchen door, and down to the empty room with Mike-Ravyn hacking behind them. He set his love into a rocker that looked like it was made for a watching mother, kissed her on the forehead, and painstakingly left the room.  
Catharine fussed round Ravyn-Mike but was waved off by the grey-skinned girl. Arriving a few minutes later with mattresses and all the boys in tow with tea at the ready, Jim hummed a few lines from ‘Brides for Seven Brothers’. Nate picked up the tune and said the next few verses as best he could. For just a few minutes the world was as it should be. The men sang horribly but nobly off-key as the girls watched them, enjoying the simple act of kindness. They burst into laughter, which soon devolved into fits of coughing. And reality came crashing back down through the ceiling.  
Hurriedly Jim placed the mattresses and blankets, putting Ravyn’s at the far side of the room to keep her away from the still uninfected girls. Joan and Catharine would have to share a mattress but that was for the best. He personally gave Ravyn a large mug of the steaming brew. The swirling vapors visible in the pail moonlight.  
Ravyn brought the cup to smell and breathed in the essence. It smelled of sharp peppermint, strong cloves, a twinge or two of lemon or perhaps lemongrass, and of course the trusty scent of chamomile. She closed her eyes and smiled at the many past memories, reliving every moment in a snippet of time before taking a cautious sip. The tea was hot in her mouth but not too hot. It warmed her all the way down as she swallowed the healing brew. It was almost magic.  
Her eyes blinked open as she saw her old friend Jim giving Catharine a pair of hand crafted mugs. _Magic, huh._  
Ravyn looked back to her tea and took another sip. She had a lot to think of for the future.  
Catharine thanked Jim over and over, and the Louisiana man just smiled at the shy girl’s gratitude. He merely nodded as he backed out of the room with a promise that he would be there if they needed anything. The girls settled on their mattresses. Joan in her delusional dreams with Catharine’s arm at her side to assure her when she woke up. And Ravyn by herself, finishing her cup as she curled with her back to the wall.  
The boys took the living room like the dead. Nate collapsing on the couch, staring up at an old ceiling fan as it puttered away slowly. Ever turning its blades to chop the stagnate air. Rob dropped into a recliner. He was far too tired to stay on his feet and too worried to let sleep take him. Jake sunk into the floor like he said he would. His muscular form like a ragdoll as he lay on the warm boards. He only moved a little when Jim tossed him a quilted blanket and a pillow. Then the lights went out in the small Foreman house as the master tapped his way into the empty bedroom and crawled into his bed alone. The house went quiet, sitting under an illuminated sky in a silver lining landscape.  
Each of them waited for the darkness of sleep to take them unknowingly. With the world and unfamiliar on their minds the guests slipped into their dreams. The host waited a little longer.  
He thought as he rolled over to look at the empty pillow. _Wonder how I’m going to explain this one to the wife._

 

Crazed shadows danced to requiem tunes. Clefts of memories crumbled and fell, echoing as they collapsed into endless abyss. Naysayers and doubts crowded around to stone logic along with common sense. Fear cut into calm with rusted blades. Peace fled with joy, taking carefully laid plans with them. The traitors left their comrades behind. Pride burned hope at the stake. Anger and rage sat in the corners. Enjoying the spectacle and sharing a pipe. There was no escape. No escaping this time.

 

Ravyn awoke to the god awful sound of a goddamn chicken screaming at the barest hint of sunlight. His, no her, head felt cool and there was a reassuring feeling of a wet hand towel on her forehead. She felt a bit cold and stopped up. The muscles and bones of her new body ached, but that was to be expected. Ravyn could deal with that in time. She had lied to get into a friend’s house. It was not something she wanted to continue if any relationship was to be maintained. And not just her, but the group, needed this relationship. Her only hope was that nobody had stretched the truth as much as she did. Even though they were more likely to follower her lead.  
_God in heaven. Please help us. Please look after your children._ Ravyn prayed silently. She smiled at the thought. _Funny. Asking help while sinning. I hope I never get used to that one. Alright, now down to the magic issue._  
An unseen hand removed the cool towel and gently came to rest on Ravyn’s forehead.  
_No! Put it back! We wants it precious!_ Ravyn giggled at her own joke. Regretting it when the innocent laughter turned to a small fit of coughs.  
Opening her eyes to spearing shafts of sunlight, Ravyn looked up to see Joan calmly kneeling by his bedside. The girl’s keen blue eyes full concentration. Not missing a thing as she treated her patient.  
Ravyn gave a weak smile at his friend in hope of showing his appreciation. To her relief and a little surprise, Joan smiled back. That reassuring, always jovial, optimistic smile that spread the sides of her face. The Louisiana girl smiled and wrung out another cool hand towel before substituting for the one she took. Ravyn mouthed ‘Thank You!’ as she watched her friend pushed her violet hair out of the way.  
Giving a wink in return Joan moved back to inspect her work.  
“How bad is it?” Ravyn croaked. Her voice was not so bad. It was just a little hoarse but besides that it sounded just about normal.  
Joan gave her a look that said ‘down boy’. “You’ve been asleep for three days with a persistent cold and then a moderate fever. I am honestly surprises you went through two different diseases in such a short period. Anybody, Jake included but don’t tell him I said so, would be out for several weeks.”  
“Still though,” Ravyn complained, looking defiant in her blankets. “Three days down and out.”  
Her tone grew more somber as the transformed girl looked at the door. “We can’t stay here. I love Jim as a friend but I can’t put his house in danger. Our presence here marks him.”  
Joan nodded, her eyes falling to her lap and her empty, curled hands. Her thin fingers had tirelessly worked on countless projects. They had written and typed thousands of reports. Now what was to become of the future that she had so carefully built up?  
The Louisiana tomboy clenched her jaw and huffed. _Uh-uh. I am not going down that path. College will have to hold for a while. In the meantime, I need to help everybody stay safe until this blows over._  
She felt it. Ravyn closed her right eye as she stared at the ceiling. She had felt Joan’s fear dissipate. Extinguished like a candle flame under a cup. And Resolve grew like an oak’s roots, young but strong, from her heart. She saw it. Felt it. Sensed its depth and measured it. The echoes rippling around the room.  
_Dang it. I was hoping this wouldn’t be a thing._ She blew a breath out of frustration. _Going to have fun figuring this one out. At least I don’t have to go through hormones again. Now how did that process go? Emotionally detached to maintain control? I can do that. Right? How hard could that be? I’m already an introvert and don’t really get involved. Should be like riding a bicycle._  
“Did anybody else catch anything?” Ravyn inquired, rotating the one open eye to her friend.  
“No. Just you.” Joan shook her head. “Seems you lucked out.”  
“Hmm.” Ravyn grunted.  
A smile quirked the corners of Joan’s lips. “Good to see you haven’t lost your comprehension of the man-grunt language.”  
Ravyn snorted and smiled. “Thank you Joan.”  
Her good friend nodded with a knowing smile.  
“Truly.” Ravyn turned her head and reached out, putting a hesitant hand lightly on Joan’s knee. “Thank you.”  
The smile broadened and light flickered behind Joan’s eyes. She knew when Mike, or Ravyn, or whoever her friend was said something she meant it. Her thanks was straight from her heart. Not some overused by-word thrown around in conversation. It was pure. That was something that had never changed in Mike and shone brightly in Ravyn. Earnest eyes gazing intently into another’s, soul bared to soul.  
_Some things never change._ The tomboy thought with a chuckle.  
It earned her a questioning look to which she answered. “You’re welcome.”  
Joan paused before she almost said his name. Ravyn noted the awkward stop and smiled to compensate.  
“It’s okay. I’m still me. Until I can get fixed, call me Ravyn. It makes things a little less weird. Be creepy if y’all went around calling me Mike.” She joked.  
Hesitant at first, Joan concured in consent. Until the time where all wrongs could be righted, she would honor her good friend’s request. But how long would it be before she saw that tall man again? That young, introverted goofball who listened too often and spoke to little?  
“In all honesty though, on a scale of arrow-to-the-knee to hellish torture, how bad are periods going to be?” Ravyn chuckled.  
Bursting into laughter Joan rolled onto her side as she guffawed. The thought was too funny it made her laugh so hard her sides began to hurt. Ravyn joined in, which turned the session into mixed laughter punctuated by coughs which roused even more laughter. Several minutes went by that left both girls with their faces aching and their lungs hurting. But spirits lifted.  
“Well,” Joan chuckled. “I’m not quite sure what to tell you. Uhm, it’s well, um. I don’t know if you’ve researched how women’s body’s function but pretty much you’re new body is going to shed on the inside. And yes, it is generally painful as hell.”  
“Frick.” Ravyn sighed.  
“Wait.” The absurdity of her best friend asking about something she ordinarily would not caught up with her. “How do you know about menstruation?”  
The violet haired girl squirmed a little. It was kind of cute actually. “I was one of those guys who liked to be informed and who could at least relate to my girlfriend on a situational level. That way I would at least know what was going on.”  
Joan sighed, rubbing her eyes and the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger. “Well I suppose I could let you off on that on. Not too many people of your . . . Whatever. Not too many guys research that stuff for non-perverted interests.”  
“Thanks for that.” Ravyn bobbed her head in a little bow, just the way Mike used to. “By the way. Um, I know I’ve still got the hoody but who took off my swimsuit?”  
The tomboy snickered, her fingers wiggling in front of her threatening to tickle Ravyn to death. “Why? Are you insecure about your cute body?”  
Ravyn blushed a little and Joan stopped. She had never seen her friend blush before. “A little.” The grey skinned girl mumbled, pulling her arms inside the hoody sleeves and crossing them.  
“I took your swimsuit off with as much ‘not looking’ as possible. I thought you prefer it was me rather than one of the guys.” Joan’s voice softened and she hesitantly placed a comforting hand on her friend’s small shoulder.  
Neither shrugging it off or embracing it, Ravyn accepted the touch. Underneath her girlish interior, she was still a tough son of a gun at heart. “Thank you.”  
“Don’t mention it.” Joan gave a pat before standing to her feet. “Catharine and I are going to that flea market we saw the other day. Jim says they sell clothes cheap and if we’re going to go anywhere we’re going to need to get you some clothes.”  
“Alright.” Ravyn consented. She didn’t question whether they had the money to do so or not. She just stared at the sunlight as it danced with the shadow of a tree outside.  
“Get some rest while you can okay? We don’t want you suddenly blacking out on us.” Joan ordered as she stepped halfway into the hall.  
A grunted “Mmm” was all she got in response.  
Knowing it was all she would get, Joan closed the door. Faux darkness of the hallway, a mix of absence of direct light and a faint luminesce of stray sunlight, surrounded the thin girl. Breathing in deep and setting a firm resolve, Joan walked toward the dining room.  
Most of the guys were still passed out, Nathanial sprawled on the couch and the much shorter Jake curled under a blanket that would be too small for his taller friend. Robi came from the kitchen with a mug of steaming coffee.  
“Going to town?” He asked, coming up beside her and giving her cheek a peck.  
“Yeah. We need to get some clothes for Mike. I mean Ravyn. Ugh, how the hell did this happen?” Taking another deep breath, she eyed the coffee even though she already had two earlier. “We can’t let her walk around like jailbait waiting to happen. Jim said they probably have some girl’s clothes at the flea market. Would you please spare some change mon amour?”  
“Yeah. Here, it’s all that’s left.” Robi handed her a couple of twenties, three fives, four ones, and a few quarters.  
“Merci beaucoup.” The tomboy returned the light kiss with a peck of her own, did a small twirl out of Robi’s reach before walking to the front door. She glanced back with a smile and a glint of mischief in her eye as she exited.  
Catharine was standing on the front porch waiting for her. Her jeans had dried out and Jim was kind enough to give her one of his wife’s old short dresses. It came down to her panted knees but she worked it just fine. As the two trotted off down the dirt road Rob stepped out onto the porch to see them off. Deep down he just wanted to make sure Joan was okay. He knew better than most that the happy exterior was sometimes a cover for feelings she wanted to gloss over. Sticking his hands in his pockets, Rob wished he had his pipe and some tobacco. He had not had a good smoke since the Magnolia Pipe Club Long Smoke Contest in Fondren Public. Rob had almost made it to the final but could not manage to make it work.  
Rob blew out through his nose as he saw the two girls make the turn onto the asphalt. He was not worried about them being hurt or kidnapped here. Villages, especially ones in Louisiana, were tight communities. Tight meant protecting each other. Joan and Catharine would be safe.  
“Cigar?”  
Turning, Rob saw their short host offering an old oak box. “With your crinkled shirt and vest I figured you more for a pipe smoker but cigars is all I got around here. Mary is making me cut back so I don’t hurt the baby.”  
With a nod of thanks, Rob opened the wood box and selected one of the brown rolls. “Thank you.”  
“Ah, don’t worry about it.” Jim waved him off before taking one for himself. He gestured to a pair of rocking chairs with slightly peeling paint.  
Rob nodded and the two took their seats on the porch, the morning sun inching into the veranda and warming the land back from its night slumber. Pulling a slip of matches with the logo “Jim and Mary: Forever” on the back, Rob offered his cigar as Jim struck a match and held the small flame under the cigar with practiced ease. After a few puffs the end lit a complacent orange before Jim lit his own. The pair sat there, not a word between them, rocking back and forth ever so slightly in their chairs.  
He did not know whether it was the thought of having a smoke again or the calm setting but Rob decided to breath in the smoke rather than keep it in his mouth as he usually did. He felt the flavorful ether fill his chest but to his surprise his lungs accepted it. No coughing or gagging along the way. Frowning a little, Rob blew out his breath of smoke. The ethereal wisps seemed to curl upward like cirrus clouds compiled atop one another.  
“Heh, you must practice that. I couldn’t do that if I had a life time to try.” Jim chuckled.  
But Rob did not answer. When he had blown out that smoke he had been thinking of how much smoke were like clouds. Now this. What exactly was happening here?  
“I don’t mean to pry but I saw you looking after the girls.” Jim said, taking a puff of his cigar. “They’ll be fine. This is a good town with good people. If anything somebody will probably give them a ride there.”  
“No, I know. It’s just-I don’t want-” The Louisiana boy pulled out his cigar and put his head in his free hand.  
“Ah. I think I understand.” A smile curled slightly on Jim’s chubby face. “You’re worried about her. Thinking that these strange new things that y’all are going through will begin to tear you apart.”  
A nod confirmed the host’s presumption.  
“Well, to tell you the truth y’all haven’t given me much explanation as to what y’all are doing out here. If I remember right finals are finishing up in a few days.” Rob was about to try and explain before Jim waved him down. “It’s alright. I’m sure y’all have your reasons. To tell you the truth I took you in out of consideration of a friend. Daniel Curwood and his brother mean a lot to me and my family. Daniel was a good friend as was his brother Mike. They helped Mary and I move out of our apartment in Jackson. Even planned out my entire bachelor party. Helped set up our wedding. And helped take everything down to. So when that girl Ravyn said she needed a favor under Mike’s name I don’t ask to many questions. Y’all will answer when you need to.”  
Gentle, warm winds from the south cooled the porch squatters. Smoke wisped away before settling again. A tractor chugged down the road to Gilbert, the risen sun flashing off of its red paint.  
“I just don’t know how to act around her now.” Rob finally said. “I want to be there for her but she’s walled herself in I think.”  
“You think?”  
“Like I said, I just don’t know how to deal with this.” Another pull of the spiced cigar filled Rob’s lungs with ease.  
“Well. I’m not Dr. Phil but I can say that you at least need to give her some space. Be there when she needs you and support her however you can.” Jim emphasized his point with his smoking cigar between his fingers.  
Rob looked sideways at the man. “How long have you been married?”  
“Two years!” Jim smiled proudly. “Before that Mary and I were engaged for another two. Before that we had been in a relationship since high school, although we technically were interested in each other since middle school.”  
“Wow.” Was all Rob had to say.  
“Yeah. It’s been good.” The plump man leaned back in his rocker. “I can’t say we didn’t have our bumps or bruises, but it was worth it all. That I can say for sure.”  
Rob nodded and leaned back in his chair as well. Smoke drifted off the porch and into the lawn as the pair sat in complacency. Enjoying the moment while it lasted.

 

It was a fifteen minute walk to the store with the morning sun stretching into its noon position. Joan breathed in the air of her homeland. The scent of dirt and faint traces of pine were in the air. Intermingling with the occasional drift of unseen wildflower perfumes. Even if it was on the run, being close to home was nice. Comforting.  
_I doubt Mom and Dad are having a nice time about now. We were kidnapped on Friday so I should be able to ditch classes for the next few days without too much worry. But any more than that and people will start to panic._ Joan shaded her eyes as the pair crossed the highway to the store. _We were all afraid at the time but I can’t help but think running away was a bad idea. No. We needed to leave. Those people knew where we were. They knew exactly who was in the house and targeted us on the night we all would be there. They came with enough guys to subdue us. Even knew threatening Catharine would make the guys back down._  
The Louisiana girl glanced over to her companion to see Catharine teetering somewhere between despair and fear. _Poor Catharine._  
Coming up to the dark-haired girl’s side, Joan wrapped a friendly arm around Catharine’s shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. They were about the same height but Joan’s inch or two gave her thin form a slight gain. Unsure of what Joan was trying to do and on the verge of emotional collapse, Catharine gave in to the embrace. The confused girl all but broke down in Joan’s arms, a stream of held back tears soaking her already once dried t-shirt. Hushing the girl, rocking side to side, Joan comforted her friend, telling her it would be alright. A local lady came out of ‘Blessings All Around’ with a concerned look to ask if Catharine was okay. Smiling and holding back some tears of her own, Joan nodded.  
A few minutes later the crying stopped and Joan let Catharine go.  
“Thank you.” The shy duff mumbled, wiping her eyes as they entered the store.  
“It’s fine.” Joan whispered back with a reassuring smile.  
While the Chemistry major went about asking where they could find clothes from the lady who came out, Catharine found herself smiling. Joan had always seemed kind of distant. Preferring the company of men instead of women. Catty maybe. _But she hugged me. Me of all people._  
Catharine followed Joan’s slim back as they went to the back of the store. _Thank you friend. I am forever grateful for your accepting embrace and hope to one day return the kindness you showed me._  
Shopping did not take long. Mike’s new body, or more appropriately Ravyn’s new body, was about the same size as Joan’s. Maybe a bit smaller. The girls grabbed a cheap pair of floppy jeans that were probably too long but fit the waist, a dark patterned tie die t-shirt, and a pair of flip-flops that looked about Ravyn’s new foot size. Surprisingly, they only spent twenty-five dollars and seventy-three cents on the whole deal. The cashier lady threw in a free wide-brimmed straw hat for Catharine saying, “A girl as white as you should be careful out in the sun.”  
The girls thanked her as they left and began their journey back.  
“Joan?”  
The Chemistry major looked to her shy friend as they finished crossing the highway. “Yeah?”  
Catharine hesitated. “Will we be okay? I mean out on our own.”  
Joan looked at the sky in thought before answering. “It does seem pretty rushed doesn’t it? Our kidnapping.” Catharine shuddered at the word. “The drive here. Staying at the house of a man only Ravyn knows. Yeah, it’s been weird. But I’ve known Jake, Nate, and Mike for a while. They’re not ones to let their friends down. Regardless of what ever happened to Mike to turn him into Ravyn, she will do her best to deliver. She seems to have something of a plan in that pretty little head of hers. And I trust her.”  
Catharine nodded. “Thank you again. I seem to be the one constantly worrying for everybody.”  
Chuckling, Joan smiled at her. “Not at all. We’re all worried. We just try not to show it. Don’t feel like you’re putting any extra pressure on us. It’s equal all around.”  
“Oh. Okay.” Catharine smiled back.  
Behind them a red tractor finally pulled up to the highway and turned right.

 

When the girls got back Nate and Jake were up. Jim had let them borrow his computer. They did not get to much internet out in boondock central, a fact which had the technologically addicted Nathanial twitching agitatedly, but it was the best that they could do. Rob greeted his girlfriend with a kiss and asked how their little shopping trip went. Joan smiled and said it was fine before moving down the hallway to check on Ravyn. However, the baby room was empty. Jim poked his head out from the kitchen to tell her that Ravyn had been in the guest bathroom for a while and had yet to come out.  
Noticing the door unlocked Joan went in to find Ravyn’s small body sitting alone on the toilet seat with only the sunlight from the window only lighting up the small room. Wrapped in a towel and hair a little wet she looked gloomy as a graveyard angel. The small, grey-skinned girl rested her elbows on her knees with her arms forward, gazing at her hands.  
Joan sat down in front of her friend. “Hey. Is everything alright?”  
Ravyn nodded, her violet locks swaying a little. She kept staring at her hands. Hands that before would have been dwarfed by his huge male ones. Now all that was left were small, delicate hands with thin fingers. Not even the callouses she had come to be familiar with as Mike were there.  
“I was kind of fond of those callouses.” She said finally. Her voice was a little shaky but strong. “They reminded me of all I had been. All I had done. My hard work and hard times were in those callouses.”  
The grey hands were cupped in Joan’s own as she lifter hers up to them. “Are you going to be okay?”  
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” The grey girl kept staring at her hands, the vision of her former hands eclipsed her smaller ones. And this new body, so soft.  
Being a male was easy. You didn’t have to worry too much. Your entire body was a rock, able to recover from most injuries. The only weak point being your crotch but you could guard that. Hormones were a pain but you got over those. Not this. This new body was soft all over. and it reverberated with new feelings.  
“Joan have you ever liked girls?”  
The question blindsided the tomboy. It was to be expected sort of, but hearing it was another matter. “Uh, not really. You know Rob and I have been serious with each other, not to say we haven’t had our fights, but we’ve never really considered anybody else. So no.”  
“Sorry. It’s just that this transformation has left me confused. I was a guy who was supposed to like girls, and did have an interest in marrying one someday, and now I’m a girl who will be interested in guys and guys will be interested in me!” Ravyn stopped and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not going to cry or anything. I just wanted to get that off my chest.”  
“It’s okay.” Joan smiled.  
“Hmm. And now we have to consider the possibility of magic.” The former History major sat up, blank stare gone and replace by a serious look.  
“Wait what?” Joan blurted. “Mike! I mean Ravyn! We’re mostly Christian here. Catharine may dabble in some modernistic Zen stuff but Jake’s a devout reformist. Nate’s nondenominational. Rob and I are planning to get married in a Presbyterian church for God’s sake.”  
Ravyn held up her hands. “I know, I merely want to consider the possibility of magic. I don’t know how I got into this body but I doubt even professionals can stitch up a gender, not to mention dimension altering surgery in a few hours. Then there’s my appearance and what I did to that guy who was guarding me. I’m not saying that magic exists but we should be open to the possibility.”  
“The rest aren’t going to like this. What are you even thinking spouting out something like that? You of all people! The same person who dismissed magic as either the work of demons or simple mind tricks.”  
“I know. But a lot has happened in the past few days. It’s only a theory for now. So whether it is true or not is anybody’s guess.” Ravyn agreed. “I’ll tell them my assumption when I can. Until then, we have bigger things to worry about.”  
“Fine. Speaking of bigger things, we didn’t find any women’s underwear in the flea market.” Joan grinned, holding up the bag of newly purchased clothes. “So unless you’re cool with going free bird I think you should wear that dark one-piece you had. It won’t offer support to those plums you got there but it’ll do.”  
Covering her breasts in mock anger, Ravyn turned to the side. “My plums. No touchy. No touch.”  
Chuckling, Joan pulled out the purchased clothes. “Fine. Do you want to keep the whole outfit? I don’t know when you’ll need a snazzy cape and belt but they do make a pretty convincing outfit.”  
“Don’t remind me.” Ravyn grumbled. “Eh, I’ll keep ‘em. Who knows? Maybe they’ll come in handy when we need to break into a comic book convention.”  
Considering his penchant for wearing hoodies, Ravyn would probably keep wearing the one she was gifted with. Joan made a mental note to wash it before they left. The jeans were too long like she thought they would be but a pair of scissors fixed that. The shirt was a little short at the waist but beggars could not be choosers. Finally, the flip-flops. Only a little bit bigger than Ravyn’s small feet but she was adamant about keeping them, wiggling her long toes in protest until her Louisiana friend relented. The new girl turned out looking nice. Joan noticed her hair was long enough so she put it back in a loose pony tail. Even without make up, Ravyn was an attractive looking young woman.  
As they made their way out of the bathroom giggling at each other like it was completely normal, they noticed Nathanial paying attention. To be fair, he wasn’t very good around women in the first place. Now that one of his best friends had been turned into one the world was upside down. Ravyn made a mental note to confront him about it later. The group was huddled around Jim’s computer with a Jake rubbing his eyes, a few sheets of written paper in front of him.  
Each of the guys had heard Jake’s side of the story and trusted his word. The now newly dubbed Ravyn was Mike to them, but she had made her own name.  
“So we figured it would be best to keep moving either west or south. Either way is familiar and can afford some measure of security.” Jake mumbled. “Catharine already agreed with us. But we were going to ask what you all thought when Ravyn was done taking her shower.”  
Nodding her approval and winking at Catharine, Ravyn joined them. “Personally I think south to New Orleans is our best bet. Big cities are full of cameras but if your opponent isn’t the government it’s easy to slip into the cracks of a concrete jungle.”  
“Any particular place?” Rob asked, his fingers ready at the keyboard.  
“There was a place I heard about a while back. See if you can find a place called Market St. Power Plant. It was on a website for the ten creepiest places in New Orleans.” Ravyn leaned in. “Things you can find on the internet.”  
A hazy picture of Google images came up with a series of photos, some colored others black and white, of an abandoned factory.  
“The plant itself has been abandoned for a while until some bureaucrat can sort out the paperwork. It was flooded when Katrina hit and hasn’t been touched since.” Ravyn explained. “It would be a good place to hide for a bit, until we have an actual place to crash. What do y’all think? We can’t stay. We got almost no money. This is actually one of the more preferable options.”  
Looking around, each member was carefully considering the problems and scenarios Ravyn had already gone through a dozen times. She had chosen the city and spot specifically because of the circumstances, her only prayer was that nobody would make a quick and foolish decision. Least of all her.  
Jake seemed to weigh their situation before nodding. There was some hesitance in his eyes, as if he was going through a mental checklist for what they would need. Catharine’s face blanched at the idea of staying in a rat infested metal building. But gears were clicking her head. Joan and Rob had a few moments of silent communication before slipping into each other’s embrace, their forms sinking into the other. It had been a rough few days for them both. Finally, Nathanial sat in a wooden chair with his thin writer’s fingers pressed together at the tips. Each had a preference. A position. A folly of circumstance on their mind. It was the decision that would lead to painful or joyful futures. And only time would tell the difference.  
Jake glanced with his eyes at Ravyn and nodded, a serious air on his contoured face. Seeing Jake had agreed, Catharine also nodded. She gave a squeak accidentally when her head dipped. It helped break the tension a little as they moved on. Joan was all but sleeping against Rob, he smiled a little before bobbing his head in a nod of agreement. With Nathanial in last again, they all waited. Bubbling could be heard from the kitchen as their host Jim whistled out the toon to the Andy Griffith show. Nathanial was not especially gifted at planning or strategy but he did not want them running head first into a rash result. Not to mention they would be spending days if not weeks in an abandoned and condemned building. Sure they had been hitchhiking before, which was something normal people did not do unless there was an emergency. And there was but still. Had they really been reduced to runaways and vagabonds?  
As he looked at the faces of his friends, Nathanial saw determination, fear, weariness, strength, and peace. Even if they had been reduced to such methods, things normal society looked down upon, they would still stand with each other. At least that was the idea.  
With great reluctance Nathanial blinked and nodded. He too would stand with them. It might get him killed but what the hell. Life was short anyway.  
“Market place it is then.” Jake affirmed, his fingers moving over the keyboard to get an address.  
“But before we do go all the way,” Nate interjected. “I think we should stop by Joan’s or Rob’s house. Give them some amount of time with their family before this gets worse.”  
All agreed but Rob waved them off. “We can go to Joan’s house. I don’t really need to see my folks. We’re not on the best of terms in the first place.”  
“Alright, y’all are done deciding?” Jake mumbled sarcastically, his tired voice dry with humor. “Then it’s off to market land as soon as we drop by Joan’s place.”  
“Dinner’s up!” Jim called, coming out of the kitchen with a pot of quickly made gumbo and a pot of rice on each hip.  
The group quickly abandoned the computer and sat at the dinner table. Jim put the food on hot-pads and said grace before watching the food all but disappear. He chuckled as he grabbed a serving of rice and gumbo before it was gone entirely. Careful to put the gumbo on top of the rice, he took a bite and smiled in satisfaction. It was not his best gumbo by far but it would do.  
“Have y’all come up with a place to stay?” He asked with a knowing look and a ghost of a grin on his lips.  
“We’re going to be headed down to New Orleans.” Jake mumbled between bites, grateful that there were no shellfish or okra in the gumbo. “As soon as we find a ride.”  
“Yeah.” Ravyn came up for a breath of air after shoveling down her second plate. “Jim, do you know anybody who would be willing to give us a ride down to DeRidder?”  
“Hmm.” Jim thought, twirling his spoon in the almost finished gumbo in his bowl. “Let me think.”  
The thinking period was full of scrapping spoons, munching of teeth, the flurry of hands scrambling for seconds or thirds. Jim wondered if this is what it was going to be like having kids of his own. Come to think of it, what was that about parents and kids? Parents. Kids. Car. Ride. Jim smiled as he remembered.  
“Turns out it’s y’alls lucky day. My father recently gifted me a suburban that had bad brakes and hale damage. The insurance company counted it totaled and gave him a new one of his choice. However, the car still runs just fine. I replaced the brakes so it should be fine.” Jim smiled at the shocked looks on their faces. “As long as you treat her nice I don’t see why you can’t take her for a little trip. But no speeding, no bumping into other people, no yahooing. And I expect the car back in two months. Even if that means you have to air mail it.”  
Ravyn managed a sloppy salute and Jake nodded. “Yes sir!”  
That night each person slept peacefully. Jake took the floor again, a curled lump of content wrapped in a blanket. Nathanial whimpered and moaned on the couch as dreams circled round and round in his head. Jim was brought out a spare mattress for Rob so that he would not have to take the recliner again. The girls slumbered in serenity, Joan and Catharine sprawled over the shared mattress.  
Jim asked favor and blessing on his guests in their travels from Jesus Christ before going to sleep. He was content in his decision. Happy to help the wandering youngsters. Jim smiled as he remembered that he too used to be one of those youngsters. God only knew where they were going. He just hoped they would be safe getting there.  
The last one to fall asleep was Ravyn. She stared at the stagnant baby toys hovering over her. Toys that would one day dazzle the mind of some curious youngster brought anew into this world. She wondered if she giggled as a child at such things. Or did she used stare. Only Mom and Dad would know. Ravyn turned over to face the wall and closed her eyes before tears had the chance to form.  
_Not now._ She told herself. _Not now. I can cry later. Sleep. Sleep._  
And sleep came as the small, grey-skinned girl thought over more routes and alternatives of their future trip in her head. It all vanished as her mind was eased back into a quiet slumber. A small smile traced her thin lips as she dreamed of better days.

 

Before the sun was up the next day the group packed up all they had into the totaled suburban. Jim was not kidding when he said it too some damage. There were sizable dents all over the car. It was remarkable that none of the windows were knocked out. But sure enough it turned over and sounded just fine.  
In addition to lending them the vehicle, Jim sent them off with several sleeping bags, a couple of family sized tents, three weeks worth of dried goods, a couple of maps, some money for gas, whatever toiletries and assorted hygiene related things he could find, and a small Ziploc bag full of quarters for public phone calls. He shook each of their hands firmly and blessed them, wishing them the best of fortune. And a grinning reminder to have his car back before the end of the month.  
Before they pulled out of the dirt drive way, Ravyn stuck her head out of the left side passenger window. “Hey, what kind of guy is your dad? I’d like to meet him sometime.”  
“He’s sort of a jack of all trades.” Jim grinned and then winked. “But he really does like classic rock.”  
Ravyn arched a questioning brow but waved goodbye. “God bless you! We’ll get your suburban back! We promise!”  
The barking of the Foreman dog signaled their departure as the stuffed Chevy suburban made its way onto the asphalt then drove down the road to the highway. Ravyn wondered what Jim meant when he said his father was a fan of classic rock. They soon all found out as Rob, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, clicked on the car stereo. The not so subtle guitar into started up and soon the speakers were echoing the song “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC.  
The group laughed as they pulled onto highway 425 and headed south.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Vizgoth this chapter for knowledge of the male psyche.  
> We apologize to anyone who has had to listen to a dumb bird scream suddenly at five in the morning. We feel your pain.  
> Husbands actually do sometimes refer to their spouses as ‘the wife’ with affection. You can quote us on that.  
> Oh the horror we had to research to write this chapter. Again, sorry that this chapter is slow and discombobulated (Aha. See what we did there?). Or confusing. We ended up having a LOT of dialogue and things happening. That and we’re both not very good writers.  
> This is still a fictional story based around real world places (as explained by the title) and sometimes events/people. It's OUR fictional world that the writers will mess with as much as they darn well please.  
> Comments? Questions? Seriously. Guys, the comment thingy is not going to infect you. We think. Pretty sure. Anyway, comment away. Discuss. We would LOVE to discuss.


	4. The Short Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the party headed toward their hide away, each deals with things on their mind. Subjects must be broached and things must be revealed. While the others struggle with belief and fact, Catharine wonders if she will tell them her past affiliations. Strange things begin to happen to them. Just what happened to them in that warehouse? And was Ravyn not the only one to come out changed in some way? Fate makes the choice for them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discussions of magic, theology, family, strategy, and emotional thoughts etc.  
> We’re not stalkers. Or terrorists. We just have to research things for writing purposes. =)  
> Just so you know, this chapter was not as easy as it looks. Figuring dialogue and character is simple only in theory. And for geniuses. We are neither. If you’re wondering why we don’t focus on Catharine too much or why she doesn’t get into the scenes in a big way is because we have trouble juggling more than five individual personalities on paper. Add to the fact that she’s a shy and introverted character (we did that on purpose). We’re struggling to keep her in because she’s supposed to be important and centripetal part of the group. But we’re not sure if it’s coming out good or not. It doesn’t look like it but then again, we’re the writers so all of it looks horrible in one form or another.  
> We haven’t actually been inside the power plant. We’ve only seen photos, which to be honest are few in number, so it’s hard to paint a visual of what the inside looked like. If we made errors, please forgive us.  
> Hehe, Bruce Lee.  
> Huge theological debate, none of which would actually stand up in a real argument. But this is fiction, so it can.

When people think of road trips they often forget about the sheer distance between point A and point B. And all the stops in between.

After the fourth time playing the likes of ‘Carry on my Wayward Son’, ‘Thunderstruck’, ‘Bad to the Bone’, ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’, and ‘Lowrider’ Jake was more than thankful to turn off the suburban’s stereo as he pulled onto LA-913. The sun was already peeking over the distant edge of tree line as they passed acres of farmland and the occasional village. According to road signs they had already passed through Wisner and Elam. And drove by a little pack of buildings that could have been a village but Jake was not sure. Both what Texans would call ‘blink towns’. People in Louisiana called them villages. He had no idea why.

Jake sighed heavily as they passed yet another church. Or church looking building. It was hard to tell what was a church, what is a church, and what used to be a church but was now used for something else. He sorely wanted to be back home in Texas. Things were simpler there. There were road signs and people who waved at you and actual hills.

THUMP!

The entire suburban jostled as the tires dipped into a hole in the well used road.

 _AND NO POTHOLES!_ Jake simmered on the point of cursing but held his tongue.

_Why? Why not let it out? Might as well._

Jake quirked an eyebrow questioningly. He had surely only heard that voice in his head. It sounded like him.

_Shush! You’ll break his train of thought._

_Your mom is breaking his train of thought._

_Really? That’s the best you guys can come up with? What are you twelve?_

“I’m losing my mind.” Jake murmured to no one but himself.

_Ah crap. Look what you’ve done._

_Me? What about you?_

_Hey guys. Keep it down. Let the big man think._

_I don’t think I would use the word ‘big’ to describe him._

_You know that applies to all of us right?_

_Me thinks that word applies well. We have VERY BIG-_

_ALRIGHT! We get it! We know what you mean. Just chill big guy._

And like that the ethereal conversation ended. _It’s going to be a looong drive to New Orleans._ Jake thought to himself. Thankfully nobody answered.

Beside him in the passenger seat Rob tapped out ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ on his window sill. His mind was already occupied with thoughts of what exactly he was going to do when they got to Joan’s home. She rented that house with one or two other girls during the semester but during the summer and winter she went back to living with good old mom and dad. Neither of whom approved of him. Sure they tolerated him and treated him with as much respect as any guest in their house. But as soon as he left her parents would go all passive-aggressive about him. Joan hated it. Although he did not mind so much. It was better than what he was used to at his own house. The question now was, what were they going to think of their daughter suddenly taking a road trip with a boyfriend they disapproved of and friends they had only met last thanksgiving?

 _An abandoned power plant._ Catharine thought to herself in the back seat with Joan leaning against her, taking a morning nap to pass the time. _Sure we agreed to this but there’s going to be rats and roaches and those wiggly things with lots of legs and maybe lizards. Ugh! At least it won’t be so bad. We have camping equipment. So that should keep the vermin out for a while. As long as we dispose of our trash away from our sight we should be okay._

Looking out at the passing fields of small bush like crops Catharine wondered to herself. _It would have been safer at home. Momma Talia said I needed to go see the world for myself. That it was better for me to go explore all that I did not know. The world outside the Romani coven was something I did not want to go to. I wanted comfort but they insisted I see the world. I just never imagined it would end up this way._

 _It's not going to end well._ Nathanial thought, staring out the window from his right middle seat to keep from doing the same to Ravyn. _Three years and on the last semester this happens. This is bullshit! _

He rested his head on the vibrating glass. Warm solar radiation pierced through the atmosphere and then the glass to heat his head. The Creative Writing major scoffed at himself. _Or one could just simply say that the sunlight is warm._

He shifted in his seat to ease the slight strain on his pants. Nate admitted that Ravyn was VERY attractive and she was, of course, available. But she was his friend first and foremost. He breathed out through his nose slowly. _Damn biological reactions._

Ravyn sat across from him also looking out the window, her mind set in concentrated thought. Last night she had tried to do that thing again. And it had worked. Only for a moment. But it had worked. A black sphere no bigger than a golf ball outlined in static white.

And there were very few things that it could be.

As Mike, Ravyn had grown up in a Christian household. She had become a Christian herself. She went to a Christian church. She believed in the Christian ideals of a God with unconditional love who offered His son in sacrifice so the whole world could be saved. She believed in Heaven. She believed in Hell. She believed in all that stuff. But this one thing threw all of that out of balance.

In one single night her world was flipped into juxtaposition.

There was no such thing as magic.

But she had made something like it.

Slumped against the window she let out a sigh. _Sometimes I wish the world was a little less complicated._ Ravyn thought, knowing she would have to broach the subject. And soon.

The winding 913 came to an end as they turned onto LA-8 West then a few miles later onto 124 South. It was a tense, if not boring, few hours. Finally, Nate had enough of the silence. He turned around and smiled at the shy Catharine. Definitely not something he usually would do but he did not have anything else to do either. There were no books, no magazines, no phones, no wi-fi, no computers, nada. So uneasy small talk it was.

“How are you doing?” He asked honestly. Nate had never been good at conversing, least of all to girls. Friends were the rare exception but he was still getting used to Catharine.

“Uhm. Okay I guess.” Catharine lowered her eyes and turned her head slightly so her long, dark hair covered her blush.

The closed-eyed Joan quirked a smirk. “Stop picking on Catharine, Nate. It isn’t becoming of a gentleman.”

“Just trying to make conversation.” He mumbled back, just loud enough to be heard.

“I’m just joking with you Nate.” The tomboy sat up and stretched as much as she could in the confined space of the back seat.

Nathanial turned a slight shade of red and quickly changed the subject. “So are your parents going to be at your house? They going to be okay with you dropping by? With us?”

A frown crossed Joan’s face as she thought about the possibilities that lay before them. “They should be fine. Dad will probably be out at work. Mom will be helping my younger sister, Anna-May, study for the SAT. All my siblings were homeschooled so we didn’t really have to go anywhere. I’ll just tell them that one of the Chemistry professors is having us do a field trip.” Joan’s eyes glassed over. With her short cut hair, she could not hide her expressions from the world. Nor did she.

She managed a smile before saying, “It should be fine.”

In front of her, Ravyn frowned as she sensed Joan’s sorrow. Felt it. Heard it. It was like a dark, throbbing well that dripped and dropped and never ceased. There was only climbing out, and Ravyn did not know how to tell her that. However, as she looked back to Joan, Ravyn thought it looked like she could do it herself. Most of all however, she did not want Joan to lie to her parents and prayed she would not have to.

Up front Rob let out a held breath upon hearing Joan. He knew she was having a rough time of it all. This crazy and outlandish plan of theirs. They were going on the run. And just a few hours away from her parents. Could they possibly leave her behind? She would be in the safety of her parent’s house with her father to protect her. No. He had been there to protect her when they came into their house. When the broke down the door of their safe place. He and Jake and Mike and Nathanial had all been there. And they could not protect the girls.

The well-dressed man rubbed his chin and looked mournfully out his window. _We have to run to protect those we love. Then perhaps with time, we may circle back to see them again._

A few hours passed and they pulled into the sizable town of DeRidder. Like most southern towns that had a large populace, DeRidder was large in the sense that it’s buildings and plots were stretched out over a large area. Not to mention the trees that could make a supermarket all but invisible when standing on the other side of the tree line. For some reason they all ways had more to them than what you could see. Joan, who had gotten over her melancholy mood, managed to wiggle her way up to the middle seat where she directed Jake toward her house.

It was ten in the morning when they pulled onto the country road and then onto the gravel driveway. The plot was deceivingly small thanks to its forest surroundings. A canopy of branches anointed their entrance as the suburban slowly crunched its way forward on the granite. To the left, the trees gave out and became a small clearing that was used as a lawn. Abandoned plastic slides and swings and chairs lay about the yard as if in afterglow of their use. Barking came from two small dogs, one a deaf little terrier and the other a blue-healer mutt, as they raced from around the house to ‘greet’ their guests.

The group pilled out of their stuffy moving quarters and Joan got the dogs to calm down a bit. Dad had obviously been working on the house. There was a new add-on to the west side that looked like a sun room. Joan wondered if he had made it just for her. He knew how much she enjoyed laying in a sunroom, reading a book and sipping coffee. The single floor house could hold her family, her married older sister Leanna and husband Jackson with their three adorable kids, her older brother Rick and fiancé Jessica, herself, her parents, and Anna-Mary. Dust seemed to creep up around the white walls of the house from the flower bed moats, but despite the aged look the house was made to last.

Mom had always said: “This house is not ours. It’s the Lords. We’re just borrowing it for a time.”

Joan smiled at the little memory. It was good to be home, even if it was only for a moment. As fleeting as it was. It was still good.

Attracted by the ruckus the dogs made, and knowing Mr. LaDeaux would not be back from work until nine or ten in the evening, Mrs. LaDeaux came outside. The small woman bore remarkable resemblance to her daughter. However, the proud mother had gained a few pounds in her years of worrying over four children. Never the less, Mrs. LaDeaux’s face shone as bright as the sun itself when she saw her daughter. Walking as quickly as her short legs would take her, Mrs. LaDeaux met her daughter mid-way on the walkway beside the house.

“Joan!” Her mother embraced her warmly. Even her small bifocals could not contain the happiness in her eyes. “I don’t recall you getting a surprise vacation.”

Joan hugged her mom back, trying not to tear up. “I know. I’m sorry Mom. I’m sorry I didn’t call.”

“Hush dear.” Mrs. LaDeaux patted her daughters back, feeling the ever so slight quake running through her thin body. “It’s alright. I’m just glad you came to say hello.”

“Thanks Mom.” Melting into the embrace, Joan smiled. “I can’t stay long but I just wanted to see you before I went.”

“Oh It’s alright.” The two broke from their hug. “Where are you going off to in such a rush?”

Before Joan could answer Ravyn popped up behind her with the cutest smile she could muster. “Chemistry field trip. The professor is having all the students in his class spend a few days at his parent’s old house. Apparently his father was a chemical engineer of sorts back when the field was expanding. He said that there was going to be a ‘literal ton of barbeque’ and it is a big house with a guest house next to it, so he told everybody they could bring a friend.”

“I see.” Mom radar was blinking as she sweetly looked over the newcomer as casually as she could. “And what’s your name?”

“Ravyn. Ravyn Muir.” Ravyn offered her hand and tried to keep the fake smile. Gosh darn it she was lying to the mother of a good friend. This was not how college was supposed to turn out. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 _Again._ The boys thought unanimously.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Ravyn. Do you have time for something to drink or to eat? We’ve got plenty of snack in the house if y’all want to stock up on road food.” Mrs. LaDeaux waved an arm back to the front door. “Even use the bathroom if you need.”

None of them had seen Catharine move so fast. Ravyn only caught the whimpering words ‘I have to pee!’ as she zoomed straight into the house. Everyone blinked for a few moments. None of them could quite comprehend what had happened as Catharine departed from their company post haste.

“I bet that girl’s a sprinter.” Mrs. LaDeaux interjected.

They all burst out laughing. Joan shook her head, holding the back of her hand to her mouth as she struggled to not laugh for just a few moments. “Trust me Mom. She’s not a sprinter.”

“If you say so.” Joan’s mother raised an eyebrow as she looked back to the front door. “She could have fool me.”

“Would it be alright Mrs. LaDeaux if we came inside a little while, Joan wanted to collect some things while she’s here.” Ravyn asked.

“By all means!” The southern lady beckoned them in. “Make yourselves at home. Y’all must have another hour or so ahead of you. Getting here from Belhaven before noon. Must have gotten up early.”

Jake nodded as he entered through the front door. “We had to drag Nathanial into the car.”

“Did not.” Nathanial countered with a smile. He was about to say ‘had to drag your mother to the car’ but kept his lips shut. It probably would not bother Mrs. LaDeaux but it was still courteous not to make an adolescent ruckus in her living room.

Joan skirted the dining table to the left and went down the hall toward her room. While she was gathering a few things the rest of them stood about a little. Joan’s younger sister had staying over at a friend’s house for a few days and would not be back until that night. By the time Catharine had come out of the bathroom Joan had finished. All was still well at home. She could leave with peace of mind. At least if the men came by here they would move on.

Just as they were climbing back into the suburban Mrs. LaDeaux called after them. She went around to the driver’s door and handed Rob several twenty dollar bills. “For gas money in case you need it.”

Rob nodded and thanked her but she did not let go of the money. “Take care of my daughter.” She said, looking the young man in the eye.

It was a command. Not a request, not an option. A command. Or there would be hell to pay.

“Yes ma’am.” Rob said, looking back at her.

With a nod she waved them off and watched as they pulled out of the driveway and back toward town. Mrs. LaDeaux sniffed a little and sighed as she put her hands on her hips. Saying goodbye never got easier.

The Rob pulled the suburban back onto the road and headed back to town. They would be taking 171 South until it hit I-10 somewhere around Lake Charles. A long, long drive south before turning east to the Big Easy. It was still early in the morning and they had plenty of road snacks, endless gifts from the Foreman household, so they would wait for lunch.

Louisiana country side full of trees, the occasional farm or building, and seemingly endless road passed by in a blur as the interior of the suburban began to warm. Unceasing light from the sun shone through the windows as passengers and driver mused in silence.

Ravyn waited a moment. And then another. And another.

 _Fuck this. I’m sick of telling lies. It’s about time I said something._ She turned from her constant staring out the window to her friends. “First off, I don’t want to make a big deal out of this than it already is, so I’m sorry if I rub salt in new wounds.”

Just like that all attention, at least all that Rob could spare from driving the car, was on her. Everybody was giving her a moment to speak before they would start asking what the hell she meant.

“So, ugh, not good with words here.” Ravyn put out her hands, using her thumbs to pop her fingers nervously before stopping to start again. “I don’t mean to sound like this is a big deal but it kind of is where I’m standing from.”

Everybody was still waiting. Joan blinked and then realized what Ravyn was trying to get at. _Oh crap. She’s going to try to tell them that she thinks magic is real._

“Considering the past few days and everything that’s going on, I think we should really consider the actual existence of magic. And not as a theory.” Ravyn finally said.

A tentative pause elapsed before the entire car erupted with opinions. To his credit, Jake was calm and contemplative as always. Nathanial was going crazy over why the heck Ravyn meant. And did that mean he were going to have to get disinfected somehow. Catharine, being the most open minded one of them all, nervously fidgeted. She had planned to give them ‘the talk’ but Ravyn had just jumped right into the matter. Joan just leaned her head against her hand and propped her elbow against the back seat.

When the storm had calmed somewhat Jake was the first to speak, enunciating his words and emphasizing them with pinched fingers. “What drugs have you been taking?”

Ravyn frowned and rolled her eyes to tell him his joke was not appreciated. “Alright. Here’s my logic. We get abducted by people who burn fire out of little staff thingies.”

“Which could be mocked up flame throwers” Rob interjected from the driver’s seat.

It earned him a scolding look from his girlfriend and he smirked as he went back to driving.

“Which could be flame throwers, yes.” Ravyn nodded. “But then they put us in clean rooms. I got turned into a comic book character.”

“A very good looking comic book character.” Jake smirked jokingly.

“And well-toned.” Joan mumbled to herself.

“I blew a guy’s head off with black stuff! I got sick but I recovered in record time! Either I’m a mutant or there is some weird hinky-dink going on.” Ravyn exasperated. “At the very least, I’ve got ESP or something. Now call me crazy but this screams magic to me.”

 _Going to completely ignore that hinky-dink thing._ Jake frowned. “Ravyn, I don’t mean to cut you off but you should know what the Bible says about magic. In Revelation it says: ‘But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burn with fire and brimstone: which is the second death’. And in Leviticus it says: ‘And the soul that turning after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God’. Sorry about the language, but facts are facts. Admittedly Leviticus is hardcore Old Testament, but still. Are you absolutely sure?”

“I know what the Bible says Jake. I’m just trying to reconcile what I know and what I’ve seen.” Ravyn replied evenly.

Jake was not one to let this one slide so easily. “Mike, I mean Ravyn. The Bible is very specific about these things. One does not simply just do magic. It says in Galations: ‘Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.’ Does that sound like something we should be messing with?”

“And is says in Matthew: ‘But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’ And also in Timothy: ‘But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.’ I’m not asking you to drop the Bible. I’m just asking you to help me figure this out.”

But Jake was like a dog with a T-bone steak. “However, it also says in Galations: ‘The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

“It also says just below that.” Ravyn spoke in a soft voice, her large purple-amethyst eyes full of hope and compassion. A burning will and acceptance with yearning for understanding. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.’ Jake. Dadgumit, just listen to me. I’m not trying to condemn the Word of God. All I’m trying to do is sort this out.”

There was a look of hesitance and slight fear in his eyes. Jake was by the book when it came to the Bible. Ever since he turned his life around a few years ago he it became his daily bread. He may not have looked it but during his teenage years he was quite the rebel.

Ravyn gave a sigh of exasperation. She was going to have to show them. Ravyn put her hands out in front of her like she was holding an invisible ball. She focused on making the unknown appear, willing the darkness to come to her will and adding a little of the frustration she was feeling to the mix.

Whoom!

A dark globe the size of a basketball erupted into centripetal existence, humming irritably between Ravyn’s hands and outlined in static white. Slight twists and fluxes in the air indicated polar connections to Ravyn’s open palms as the grey-skinned girl held the unknown object in place.

“What the hell is that?” Nathanial broke the hushed silence. He had scooted himself up against the passenger side door, as far away from the strange black orb as he could.

“Well.” Ravyn said contemplating the ball. “If it ain’t magic, I don’t know what the hell it is.”

“What does it do?” Jake asked. He had turned himself around and Ravyn saw his body tense. He would just as soon tackle her then risk everybody else. She did not blame him.

“Well, I did rip a guy’s head apart with it.” Ravyn said, snapping her hands into fists. The orb disappeared instantaneously. As if it had never existed in the first place.

“And you can just summon it like that?” Nathanial questioned hesitantly.

“Actually, it’s only the third time I’ve done this.” Ravyn mumbled just loud enough to be heard, rubbing her hands together between her knees. “But seriously, I look like the Raven, I wake up dressed up like her, I can do little black balls of death like her. Guys I don’t mean to cause a panic, but what the frick? If this is superpowers then okay, but if it’s something else we have to consider the existence of magic. It’s just not an option NOT to.”

Jake went silent. Nathanial kept glancing between Jake and Ravyn, his own thoughts whirling around at a million miles per hour. In the back, Joan was just as stunned as anybody else. This was not what she had in mind when Ravyn spoke in the bathroom yesterday. Though she could now fully appreciate the look-alike’s thought pattern. If they had done this to her what had happened to the rest of them?

Admittedly Catharine was less shocked than the rest of them. She had been raised in an environment that treated magic as common place. Although it was on a much smaller scale. Auntie Sarine would read palms and cards. And only Great Grandma Hama could use the crystal ball. Occasionally they would put together a bag of whatnot or make a potion of sorts, they always looked like sludge to Catharine. But nothing at this level of magnitude.

Catharine could feel it, the flow of magic moving in and around Ravyn. She most definitely had worked some sort of spell. Added to the fact that Catharine had only known Ravyn, then Mike, to have only slight magical attunement, something most definitely happened to them in the warehouse.

Catharine shuddered. The thought of those men, whoever they were, going over her body. Doing unknown things to her.

“I mean really.” Ravyn looked at each of them. “Y’all haven’t felt anything weird? Anything at all?”

All of them shook their heads.

“Not particularly.” Rob said, checking the road before passing a minivan.

“Nothing too out of the unusual, considering.” Jake said, turning back into his seat.

“Nope, nothing at all.” Joan smiled. A pair of cat ears twitched from the sides of her head.

It took a second before Ravyn exploded. “WHAT THA FRICK!?!”

“What?” And like that the ears flipped one more time before shrinking back to human.

Ravyn looked from Nate to Catharine and back to Nate. “Okay. Was I the only one to see that?”

Both of them shook their heads, wide-eyed. Catharine was especially surprised. She had made sure that her friends had almost nil magic influence or affiliations according to the spells Grandma Hama taught her. If Joan was a shifter she would have shown it sooner. A lot sooner. This was something entirely new.

With a cautious hand, Ravyn reached out to feel Joan’s ear. _Definitely human. Definitely the way I remember always seeing them. Something fishy going on here._

“What?” Joan asked again.

“Joan. Are you sure you haven’t felt anything odd in the past few days? Anything at all?” Ravyn asked.

“No. Well, yeah. I mean, I had a craving for tuna a couple of days before. But that’s it.” Joan was starting to freak out. “Seriously! What?”

“You just had a sudden bout of ‘cat ear’ syndrome.” Jake deadpanned.

The tomboy shook her head slightly trying to comprehend Jake’s alluding statement. “What do you mean?”

“Joan,” Catharine put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “You had cat ears a moment ago.”

The suburban suddenly swerved to the side. Rob corrected it hastily, swerving back into his lane. He looked back with wide eyes.

“Sorry.” He said before turning back to the road.

“Okay.” Nathanial, the resident comic book expert, started. His motor starting to rev up. “So Ravyn has Raven’s powers as far as we know. Joan has cat ears. Guys. This cannot be a coincidence. I mean really! It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure this out!”

A lance of pain shot through his brain. Nathanial cupped his head in his hand as he growled a groan. When he looked up, his mental image of Sherlock Holmes was sitting nonchalantly between him and Ravyn. Just smoking his pipe like there was nothing wrong with this image.

The entire back of the suburban erupted in madness. When the back-seaters were not awing over the fictional manifestation they were completely flipping out. Jake himself was staring hard at the sudden apparition. He seemed aware of where he was, what he was doing, as well as the actions around him. The ‘Sherlock Holmes’ blew out a puff of thick, bluish smoke. Jake caught a whiff. It most certainly smelled like smoke. Coughing, Jake waved a hand to try to push away the smoke. Then something strange happened.

With a flick of Rob’s hand, a mere subconscious gesture intended to get the smoke out of his face, the pipe smoke curled away from the driver. Crescent cloud sifting around him, Rob did not even notice the occurrence. His mind was still on the road and all he cared about was to get rid of the distracting smoke.

Everyone sat in stunned silence as the bluish cloud curved around the edge of Rob’s space. “Well that is quite intriguing.” The faux Sherlock Holmes commented.

“Alright.” Nate began shakily. “Say we do have powers. ESP or something. What then?”

“Well it depends on what you wish to do with them my boy.” Sherlock frowned, pulling his pipe out of his mouth to point at Nathanial. “It is obvious to me that you have been forced into a world unfamiliar to you. As you have a distinct lack of knowledge in the area, I would suggest that you do everything in your power to get a leg up. If there are those with powers, there are those who wish for nothing more than to abuse them.”

The apparition turned to look each in the eye. “Arm yourselves with understanding. Combat your foes. It is clear you had no intention or say in this new development. Now what will you do about it?”

Jake stared back at the fake man. “We will not let them mess with our lives. That I can promise you.”

“You have steel in your voice lad.” A faint ghost of a smile teased the edge of Holmes’s lips. “Move forward. All of you. Do not hesitate to take steps. Just be cautious where you make them.

A moment of awkward, but thoughtful silence ensued.

“Thank you Mr. Holmes.” Nathanial hesitantly spoke. “That’s enough for now I think.”

At his words, the fictional character began to fade. As if he was nothing more than an illusion; a trick of the eye. The world’s greatest detective smiled and tapped his head with a finger.

“Remember. Seek what you wish to know. Arm yourselves with understanding to combat your unknown foe.” The voice faded with the man until all that was left was the faint scent of pipe smoke.

“Well.” Jake mused. “That was weird.”

“See!” Ravyn threw her open hands at where the fictional specter had once been. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. We either have some sort of superpowers or something! That shit doesn’t just happen overnight!”

Jake seemed to take that into deep consideration. As long as he had known Mike, now Ravyn, he had never sworn unless he felt like something needed emphasis. Being an introvert just like Nathanial, the pair had bonded over not wanting to be in the social setting. Jake had been introduced to him later at Nathanial’s sister’s wedding. Never in that whole time had Mike swore without good cause. He was one to choose his words carefully. And not for making up malicious schemes.

In the back, Catharine flustered. Of all of them she had the most experience with magic, having been raised to think of it as familiar, if not secretive. She could say that they were exhibiting magical properties. But if they pressed her for answers Catharine knew she would be sorely lacking. The young woman was not an expert, nor a major practitioner herself. In the past she had only concocted a potion to keep herself up all night and the following day so that she could score good on the SAT exams. And that other time she made the town bully have an unadjustable wedgy for a week.

 _Useless again._ Catharine bowed her head to look down at her knees as she leaned against the side of the car. _Just within my grasp of possibility but there is nothing I can do about it. An unchangeable future._

Seeing Catharine’s movements as a sign of worry, Joan wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulder. “Hey. Don’t worry about any of this. We’ll get through.” The tomboy leaned in to whisper. “The guys won’t let anything happen to us. I promise.”

A nod in silent agreement rubbed against Joan. Catharine knew that her dear friend had misinterpreted something, some action of hers. But she accepted the comforting words and embrace. Even if Joan did not know what was on the shy girl’s heart, she was still trying to ease her worry. That alone was more than Catharine could ask for.

She watched as Nathanial and Ravyn debate over what their abilities were. Jake would interject now and then. They would have to do without her say for now. She could not help them yet. Not yet.

“Magical acts are nothing new in the Bible, we all know that.” Ravyn motioned with an open hand, a peaceful and neutral argument.

“But.” Jake replied, pointing up a finger from interlocked hands. “As to whether or not they are ‘true’ magic is debate. They could just have easily be the work of demons. There have been many accounts of demons doing something lenient only to turn it around to something bad. A blind man is infected with disease, a sick man is healed but he becomes possessed, a woman asks for love but is burned as a witch. Both Biblically and historically, as you well know, affiliations with magic have never been the best.”

“I agree.” Ravyn nodded at her friend’s point. “However, we have yet to know what is ‘true’ magic. Did the sorcerer Simon in the book of Acts actually wield this ‘true’ magic or was it nothing but trickery? Or even the work of demons? We don’t know. Like the summoning of the prophet Samuel in the Old Testament. The medium said it was out of her hands. Was it God that called Samuel? Was it the devil? Was it King Saul? Again, we don’t know. This concept of magic or ‘true’ magic is something we can only seek. If we find somebody with knowledge of it, and I know you won’t like this, we can ask them for knowledge or advice.”

Nathanial butted in, deep blue eyes tinted with grey and full of concern. “But we might attract attention to ourselves. If we go ask somebody they could be a double agent or something. This could be an entire conspiracy for us to fall back into their hands.”

Nodding Ravyn agreed. “Yes, it could be. That’s why I wanted to go to New Orleans. None of us have been there before.”

Nathanial furrowed his brow in confusion.

“If you want to disappear from attention you can do a few things. First, you can relocate to the country. The wide expansive nowhere and find a job. Only thing wrong with that strategy is that everybody knows everybody in a small area. Especially in the country. Tightknit communities thrive because they rely on each other. Second, you could burn your identity. Drop everything that connects you to your world and go someplace else. We were forced into this one, which kind of gives us a leg up. To the lookers we’re only faces and names. As long as we don’t use old channels, emails, phone numbers, Facebook, twitter, ebay, Instagram, reddit, amazon, tumblr we should be relatively invisible to them. Third and lastly, you can move to the city.”

In the front passenger seat Jake quirked an eyebrow. Even he did not understand this new idea. The English major was usually good with strategy and problem thinking. However, this was something new. Nathanial was just as confused as Jake but was twice as enthusiastic. He craved modern conveniences like an addict craved a rush.

“Think about this.” Ravyn situated herself so she was a bit more turned toward her audience. She opened her hands in front of her as if holding a city. “If you live in a city and don’t do anything to stand out, your existence is registered as a statistic. You are occupant number whatever in slot I-don’t-care. Sure there are cameras but if you don’t have control of them they’re useless. You rent an apartment from a landowner who has twenty other occupants to take care of. You work across town in a random office building. You eat at a hamburger from the dozens of some-odd Wendy’s. In a population of over two hundred thousand how do you narrow down one person who does those specific things? A lot of footwork and time. A month at least. Depending on population, size of the city, and how erratic a person’s routine is that same person could pass without being noticed by a particular group. That’s what I want to aim for.”

“So.” Jake began, rubbing his nose and also gesturing with his hands. “You want to set up a base at the power plant. And then what? I don’t mean to rain down on your parade but things don’t work that simply.”

“I know.” Ravyn nodded her head in a little bow. “But it’s the best I’ve got. I don’t want to go to churches because that is one of the first places I would look. An abandoned factory along the river? Who’s going to look there? And how long would it take them to discern that it is a possible hiding spot? A long time. Long enough for us to build resources and acquire knowledge, if not location of knowledge.”

“And how do you suppose we do that?” Rob interjected from the driver’s seat.

“Are you fast enough to count cards and call bluffs?” Ravyn asked at the edge of her seat.

“I’m okay. I’ve counted cards with images instead of numbers as an experiment but I’ve never done the real thing. Why do you ask?”

“If you could, could you?”

“Maybe.” The driver hesitated.

“But could you? As a source of revenue?” Ravyn pushed.

She did not want to force him but they were in a tipsy situation. If they became unbalanced or made a mistake that was the end of them. They would have to relocate into the native populace under their own names. Then whoever had kidnapped them in the first place would assuredly find them.

And Rob had probably figured that as well. He was weighing options. Figuring moral implications and sacrifices. It was a horrible thing for her to thrust this on him so suddenly but it had to be done. The driver nodded and that was that.

“Alright. We need more than one source of revenue so I’m not sure where to start. I don’t want to have to steal things we don’t need but we also need to establish new facsimiles of ourselves.” Ravyn went on.

“Are you talking about new identities?” Nathanial perked up.

“If it’s possible.” Ravyn cautioned. “I know you all joked that I was KGB in another life but I don’t know how these things work. I don’t know who to ask or where. It would be nice to have new IDs but if we can’t swing it then we have to let it go. A new identity, a good one, will cost a butt load of money. Like as big as Catharine’s.”

There was a moment of silence. Catharine was colored a deep red and still blushing.

“Not appropriate?” Ravyn sunk into her seat a little.

“Yeah. Catharine’s butt is not to be made fun of.” Joan deadpanned.

“Sorry Catharine.” Ravyn bowed her head a little.

“It’s fine.” The shy girl blushed even more and looked away.

“Regardless, I apologize.”

“Really, it’s fine. I forgive you.” Catharine eased a little. At least she did not look like she was going to melt into a puddle anymore.

“Good. Back to business.” Ravyn became serious again. “We need tech, a revenue stream, maps, and communication. I would rather buy the tech such as computers or phones, but those are expensive so I will personally go steal a few. If I’m caught y’all can walk away.”

“Two-man job.” Jake interrupted. “You need a spotter. And another guy. If we do this, no Lone Ranger stuff. We stick together or we fall apart.”

Ravyn stared at the 23 year-old. He was older than her, more experience. Equally as smart perhaps but that was always debatable. Jake was right. She needed him. They needed him. This was something totally new to them. If they did one little slip-up, then it was all for nothing.

“Alright.” She finally spoke. “No Lone Ranger stuff I promise.”

Jake nodded in consent.

“Tech we’ll have to steal, and the stuff that won’t be missed too much. A phone with an easy password, a computer that can be converted for our use, a tablet. Stuff like that.” Ravyn glanced over at Nathanial to make sure he heard. If Jake was coming, Nate might to. “Maps are relatively cheap and are easy to steal if need be. Communication kind of falls in the tech category so I’ll leave that be for now. I don’t know about any of all your computer skills but if we could get them to work for us great. A revenue stream is the most difficult part.”

Each of the group of friends listened intently. This was going to be their lives for the next few months. Life on the run, while romantic in thought, was not a pathway of roses and butterflies. They were going to have to work for this one.

“Rob can work several of the poker houses. If he doesn’t want to that’s okay.” Ravyn bit the edge of her lip, sharp new incisors poking into the skin. _It will not be okay. If Rob backs out then we lose our one revenue stream that is semi-consistent and reliable. Even worse if he gets caught. We need him to work the cards. Otherwise we’re sunk within the first two or three days. _

“Catharine and Jake, I know it will be difficult but if you could do lawn maintenance or something. Again, I don’t know how this is going to work exactly but I’m doing the best I can. Ideas would be helpful. But in the meantime, troll the roads and byways. If somebody slips you a bill to park their car. If you can mow a lawn. If you can even wash dishes, please take the opportunity. As long as it’s within walking distance it can be done.” Ravyn turned to the back seat. “And Joan you can-”

“Finally achieve my lifelong dream of becoming a belly dancer!” Joan interrupted.

Hesitating for a moment, a look of slight confusion on her face, Ravyn finally nodded. “Sure. Why not. If memory serves me right Jackson Square and Lois Armstong Park are about an hour or two away from the factory by foot. It’s in the French Quarter, at least I think that’s what it’s called. Where all the shopping is. The one with Bourbon Street. That one. Just be sure to take somebody with you as back up.”

A happy squeal came from the tomboy’s smiling lips as she pumped her fists.

Ravyn turned her head so Joan would not see her rolling her eyes. “Anyway. We’re going to be waking up before dawn and getting into positions, wherever they may be. Then we’ll congregate in a specified place when our day is done. Probably Jackson Square. Or Armstrong Park. Wherever.”

“And what will you be doing?” Nathanial inquired.

Inside her head, thoughts just blew up. Ravyn froze with a pointing hand out stretched. Her eyes wide staring at nothing.

“Did she break?” Rob asked from the front. “Got real quiet all of the sudden.”

“Ugh. No! I ain’t broke!” Ravyn snapped out of her reverie. “Hate that phrase.”

“So?” Nathanial pressed.

“I will be in Jackson Park with Joan, helping her get set up and doing what I can.” Ravyn decided. “It’s the least I can do with my skill set. I can switch out with Jake to help Catharine wherever and whenever I can.”

The suburban jerked a little as Rob pulled off US-171 South and onto I-10. They were about halfway there and making good time. Faded by the intruding sunlight, the clock on the dash read 12:23 p.m.

“We’re almost home free folks.” Rob announced, shifting in his seat.

All of them looked on as they mounted the interstate highway. This band of constant movement. This vein that carried the lifeblood of the modern age would carry them to their hiding place. Their asylum.

“Will we be okay?” Catharine’s meek voice reverberated through all their hearts.

Unable to answer this time, Ravyn turned her head to look out the left side window. She had enough of lying. Any more and she just might bite her tongue.

Instead it was Jake who spoke with a soft, reassuring voice. “Yeah. We will be fine.”

Peace settled like a soft gown on Catharine’s heart and in the suburban. Each was struggling with what they would have to go through and Jakes words, if only a slight push back against the weighty worry, was a welcome comfort.

 _We really have turned into a family._ Catharine smiled as she leaned her head against her friend Joan and closed her eyes. “I would not mind if things could stay like this.” She murmured with a smile before slipping slowly into sleep.

Joan quickly joined her with a sisterly smile. The pair looked like a work of modern art with the sun illuminating them from the windows in holy essence. Against the side door, Ravyn had curled into a ball. Now in a smaller body, she could fit all the way up onto the seat. Seemingly resisting company as she pulled inward for rest. Nathanial stayed awake for a little while. He watched the violet-haired girl go quietly into slumber. So many things were going around in that head of hers he was surprised Ravyn did not get a headache.

Thumping against the stretched cement blocks with a constant beat the Suburban hummed over the miles yet to go.

Nathanial frowned. _How am I supposed to act around her? Now that she was like this?_

In the back of his mind Nathanial knew that Ravyn knew how her actions made him feel. The former Mike had often had long talks with his friend about how girls moved certain feelings in men. Made them want to wrap the women up in their arms and hold them tight. Women had very little idea, or maybe they did but did not show it, how they tugged at men’s heartstrings. It was darn frustrating and had more often than not been the reason Nathanial had failed to get into an actual relationship the past four or so years. He frowned before finally closing his eyes.

Thoughts crowding around inside their heads the travelers drifted across the guiding asphalt flat.

 

 

Hours passed quickly, as did the road. They drove through Lafayette and Baton Rouge as well as other little villages that only had names on signs. Fading sunlight seemed like a back light as the traveled pasted forested swamp and never ending wood. Occasionally they would see glances and peeks at a hint of urban development. But it never lasted. They crossed along the side of the great Lake Pontchatrain in a series of rapid thumps and passing semi-trucks. Loping and twisting highways passed over them as they drove beneath.

Ravyn took a moment to wonder in awe at the strange marvels of man, that he would put a road over water without so much as a care. She could almost hear the water lapping at the concrete below her. Powerful, and old beyond reckoning. And every mysterious.

Before too long they descended from their water-free causeway as the Crescent City welcomed them with subtle greeting. As the sun tilted its light passed over the first few stores and warehouses, billboards and even neighborhoods that dotted the road side.

Soon there were hotels and buildings with unknown purpose accompanied by the moving parking lot of vehicles people called a city road. Something each of them was all too familiar with, having encountered it often back in Jackson.

Coming into what they perceived as downtown, Rob merged onto highway 90 and took exit 11. The borrowed suburban followed the frontage road to Tchoupitoulas Street as it turned into Religious Street. Before hitting Market street, Rob made the turn onto Richard Street. In the dusk their new home loomed before them in the glow of paled yellow lights.

It looked a desecration. A void of joy and hope. Twin brick smoke stacks rose like parapeted towers from the brick building, a fenced field to the north, and the assembly of power stations to the south. All was boarded up, sealed in, or wrapped in chain linked fence and barbwire.

“So.” Rob pushed his glasses up. “What now?”

“Keep driving to the south side and see if you can pull around the back.” Ravyn looked over the inanimate monstrosity formed of imagination and brick. “If we can get in through a hole I’d rather we do that.”

“Alright.”

The headlights of the suburban shone on a carefully placed sign. DANGER. High Voltage. Keep Out.

Ravyn sighed as she eyed the sign at the end of the fence.

“What now?” Rob asked, his tone inquiring but patient.

Before any of the others could reply Ravyn spoke up. “Go ahead and follow the fence line toward the back. I don’t want to waste getting all the way here only to turn around.”

The shy Catharine was less enthusiastic about spending nights with unknown vermin.

Jake frowned but nodded in begrudged agreement. Spinning the wheel, Rob directed the suburban around the corner and onto the uneven grass. The fence spanned on and turned back north before reaching the barrier that separated the factory from the railroad. Hedged on both sides, the suburban bumped and heaved with holes left by past rains. It was not until the brick building was to their left that Ravyn asked for Rob to stop.

Each of her companions wondered just what the grey-skinned girl was up to as she hopped out of the car and into the weeded grass. Ravyn did not entirely know herself. The fence was electrified and they had so far seen no break in the links. But they needed a way in.

The mocking image of the heroine stood before her task, Ravyn breathed deep. She was not a superhero. However, she bore responsibility for her friends. To commit unselfishly towards helping them. And to do that, she would do anything.

Taking another deep breath, Ravyn stepped forward. The grass and tiny plants rustled at her feet and poked at her ankles. Sometimes they even clung to the cut off bottoms of her jeans. Air all around her smelled of trash and water and the consistent presence of southern loam. Behind her she could hear the suburban growling quietly and the near silent surge of the great Mississippi river as it flowed toward the sea. It was not a time to hesitate.

Crossing her arms in front of her, stretched out and pointed so that a wide invisible line ran from each hand with fence in between. Ravyn dug deep, pulling out frustration and will and hope. Focused on her spread hands and prayed that this would work, once again willing her power to manifest. Orbs darker than the black night and encased in static hummed into existence. Only the white outline of her hands could be seen in their encased existence.

Allowing herself a slight smile and slipping in the joy she was feeling, Ravyn reached out to the fence in her mind. She pictured its warm metal and charged links, trying to form a bond. When Ravyn thought she had it she spun her outstretched arms, crossing them back over on another in opposite position.

Before her purple-amethyst eyes the section of fence in front of her separated from the rest with a shriek of metal. The orphaned material wrapped together into a swirling ball of twisted scrap before falling back to the ground. It was only then that Ravyn realized she had unintentionally let her dark spheres go.

 _I did it. I really did it._ Ravyn stood as a breeze ruffled her hoodie slightly and a large hole gaped in the fence.

She looked down to her own delicate hands, no longer decorated with rough callouses. _I can learn to control this. Powers of fiction at my fingertips. Piece of cake._ The grey-skinned girl smirked to herself. _If this is all it takes, then it’ll be like riding a bicycle._

Turning around to see her friend’s faces staring, Ravyn waved them in urgently. “Come on! Hurry!”

Careful not to gun the accelerator, Rob eased the suburban forward through the gap with room to spare. The trashed section of fence was bumped aside by the front bumper as the car pulled behind the main building. With a thrilled smile lighting up her face Ravyn joined them.

As she came up the group piled out of the car. Joan, Nathanial, and Catharine bolted over to her with worried expressions. Catharine combed Ravyn’s hands for any injuries, and Joan repeatedly asked her if she was fine while Nathanial ranted about how awesome and how stupid Ravyn had acted.

But she took it all in stride. They were her good friends, as close to family as one could get without being related by blood in her book. And had more than every right to admonish her. She accepted the half-hearted and blurted scolding with a nod and an ‘innocent’ smile.

To be truthful, she enjoyed it. It was exhilarating and frightening at the same time. Even if Ravyn had always been a cautious person as Mike, these new abilities were addicting. Ravyn caught herself. She would have to be careful when and where she used them. Even if it was a corny line, great power came with greater responsibility. Because power corrupted.

Leaving that last unsettling thought behind, she joined them unpacking the suburban. With the aid of a few flashlights, Jake slung a duffle bag carrying one of the large tents over his shoulder as he walked to a boarded up door. The cut plywood was nailed over the door, sealing over the unseen portal closed to entrance.

Jake turned back to look at his companions with a wry grin. “Who wants to knock?”

A few chuckles and exchanged smiles grinned back at him. Catharine in particular beamed like a lighthouse. He turned away from the shy girl’s face. Jake did not want to be revered. That shining face of hers made him feel like he was king of the mountain, but somewhere deep in him Jake did not want to disappoint her. However, there were more important matters to take care of. Not to mention he had to concentrate on the problem at hand.

 _Let’s see. How did that one go?_ Jake mused as he dropped his baggage and moved toward the sheet of plywood.

“You need help on this one Jake?” Nathanial asked.

“Yeah. I might.” Jake rubbed his chin in thought. “Mind giving me a hand?”

“Only one?” Nathanial grinned as he dropped his own gear and joined him at the door.

“You take right; I’ll take left?” The 23 year-old took up a stance.

“Will do.” The lanky Creative Writing major did likewise.

“One, two, three!”

Both of them side kicked the blocking plywood, striking the weathered material with a disappointing thud.

“Well that didn’t work as well as we thought.” Nathanial mused with a grin.

His ankle was throbbing slightly. It had been a very long time since he had practiced, let alone gone to a Taekwondo school. Had he struck the plywood wrong it could have turned out worse.

 _Sure would be nice if I knew that one-inch-punch technique._ Nate frowned as he took a step back. _But I’ve only seen a few guys do it in the movies and the. . . ._

“Step back.” He waved Jake back a little. “I want to try something.”

As his friend retreated a little, Nate tried concentrating. He pictured that one YouTube video he saw with a colored image of Bruce Lee performing the one-inch-punch. A searing pain lashed through his head. Before his eyes a static version the famous martial artist appeared, buzzing somewhere between reality and imagination. He stood with his fingers stretched out to the plywood. With a crack and a roaring headache, the image of the legendary Bruce Lee drove his fist into the board before fading entirely. Nathanial collapsed to his knees as pain overwhelmed his mind, hands desperately pressed to his to his forehead.

“Nathanial.” Ravyn dropped what she had been carrying and hurried over to kneel beside her pained friend. “You okay? Talk to me. C’mon, you alright?”

“It hurts.” Nate moaned. “Do you get headaches when you do the thingy?”

Ravyn smiled a little. If Nate had enough thought to make a joke, he would be fine. “No, actually I don’t. Need a Tylenol? We got some in the car.”

“Just so long as you don’t kiss it to make it better.” Nathanial grumbled.

Denying his jest, Ravyn leaned over and gave him a peck in the top of his head. “Too late.” She smirked before heading back to the suburban.

“You’re a cruel and evil person.” Nate called after her, still holding his head. He smiled slightly at the thought of the kiss

A nice hole in the splintered now showed in the flashlight beams. Placing a hand into the hole and started working on widening it. With a grunt and a few heaves, the cracks in the broken plywood grew as the material creaked and snapped. Soon enough the board was broken enough for Jake to step through and try the door. Whether from some chance of accident or fate the door had remained unlocked and unchained. Perhaps a worker was negligent one day. Or forgetful because his wife was pregnant or crabby. It could have been any number of things. Never the less Jake breathed a whisper of thanks to his God Jesus for provision.

Pushing the groaning door in Jake lead the way into the belly of the beast. His flashlight illuminated factory floor. Massive generators, like slumbering beasts, lay dormant and rusting away. Surrounding them were catwalks and stairs to small offices and higher levels. Short concrete walls and barriers divided the generators from other parts of the plant as far as Jake could see. The whole place surprisingly did not smell as bad as he thought it would. There was an abundant evidence of flood damage to the structures but besides that there did not appear to be a large infestation of any kind.

“Come on in.” Jake waved the others in behind him. “It looks fine enough.”

“No rats or roaches?” Joan hesitantly asked while stepping in on tip toes.

“None that I can see.” He waved his flashlight around a bit. Nothing scurried out or into the beam. “We should set up someplace high though, just in case. Maybe one of the upper offices.”

“Sounds good.” Rob heaved his part of the load up as he picked a set of rusted steel stairs and headed up. The abandoned factory reverberated with the sound of pounded metal once again.

With Nathanial in tow still holding a hand to his head, Ravyn came through to admire her handy work. It was not the best place she could ask for, but it definitely was not the worst. She had done good in choosing the Market Street power plant and gave herself an imaginary pat on the back. So long as they were not swarmed by hordes of flesh eating rodents in the middle of the night everything would be fine.

As they all followed the stairs, each of them marveled at the preserved remains of the building around them. It was if they were walking through the skeleton of a great forgotten beast, long ago deserted by time. Catharine let her attention slip and missed a step, almost careening back into Nathanial before Jake caught her. He pulled her back into balance with a small smile and a word of warning before moving on. The shy girl blushed as she hurried after.

Discovering the second floor was not too full of debris and had sufficient concrete floor space to provide hard ground, the guys set up a large tent for the girls. Leaving the women with most of the snacks and a few bottles of water, the guys went outside to plant their own tent a few feet away. The group settled into their temporary hold, partially excited at this new experience and partially fearful of what lay in the darkness beyond the safety of their lights.

They softly were enveloped by slumber in their sleeping bags, tents tightly zipped up against any unwanted invaders. It was a big day tomorrow and each prayed that they would find themselves able to achieve their objectives. Each hoped for the day that this hurried running game would come to an end.

As Ravyn lay sleeping her mind was aflame inside with strange and fitful dreams. Nerve reactions reached her brain with messages that her hand was in slight pain. Nothing large, just enough to be uncomfortable as she slept. Her subconscious mind gave her fingers a few twitches to relieve the ache. The unconscious girl did not notice as a small ball of static briefly appeared on the tip of her finger, buzzed for a moment, and then wink out of existence. With the pain gone all functions continued as normal and the small manifestation went unnoticed by the oblivious Ravyn as she fitfully slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet y’all didn’t see that one coming. =)  
> What can we say? We love the South and southern people.  
> Dadgumit is a word. No one can convince us otherwise.  
> For the Bible scriptures we did King James Version as well as New International Version, so if you’re wondering why some of them are different that’s why. If we have to warn you about the cursing or what now you should not be here.  
> Unajustable wedgies, because what is magic good for? Getting back at bullies.


	5. Long Low Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ravyn’s powers start acting up while the others begin to understand their own. It’s a scary, ‘brave’ new world their getting into. With little money, the clothes on their backs, and only their instincts the gang must survive in the Big Easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised! HAHA! (deep and brutally tired sigh) We had a tough time roughing this one out. It's not an action chapter but we're trying to keep things going without being too uninteresting. Things get better later on, we promise. Speaking of promises, this should cover whoever is reading until the next chapter. Don't know when that's going to be but we thank all for their support.  
> This is a really sped up chapter with things “happening” but no definite “things” happening. Saying that they happen without ever showing them is what we mean. We apologize for this but it must be done. If you have an opinion on how it could be written then leave a comment.  
> One more thing! We're introducing another character but he's only going to appear later on. Let us know what you think.

A beautiful woman lay on a towel next to Nathanial in a bikini. They shared laughs as a rolling, shallow surf gently lapped at the golden shores. Above them the sun was not to bright, and warmed his skin rather than the oppressive burning it usually did. The well figured blonde giggled, her perfect smile flashed. She was beautiful, looking to be twenty with an incredibly hot body with smooth curves. Her flat stomach was envious and her large breasts begged to be fondled. Small circles could be seen outlining growing buds that perked up through her bikini top.

Tossing her hair back with a sudden gust of perfectly timed wind, the blond scooted a little closer to Nathanial. Hesitantly, she leaned forward. Closing her eyes and offering her luscious lips in a kiss. Nathanial leaned in to claim what was his. His lips met hers in a heated kiss. The taste of tingling fruit and honey faintly seeped into his mouth.

They stayed like that for a while, simply holding in a fervent embrace. Neither one wanting to break the passionate moment. Nate was the first to open his eyes and draw away, seeing the slight pout in the woman’s eyes as she looked up at him. He gave a wink and a grin. Urging the excitement on.

Giving him a poke on his cheek, she kissed it. Then down on Nathanial’s jaw and his neck. The slight touch of soft lips on his skin was heaven as she moved down toward his chest. Running her hands over his abdomen to his hips, she kept kissing. Blond locks like a golden waterfall washing over Nathanial’s chest. Silken to the touch, her hair tickled him like heavenly feathers as she worked lower and lower.

Taking a breath from her work, the woman looked into his eyes as she hooked a naughty finger underneath the band of his swim trunks. Nathanial shivered in anticipation. But instead of continuing, the blond reached up with her free hand and slapped him full on the face.

“Wake up!” She smiled and bopped him on the forehead. “Come on sleepy head! Wake up!”

Groaning at the sudden void, Nathanial opened his eyes to see Jake crouching over him. “I curse your mother for giving you the ‘early riser’ gene.” He mumbled and rolled over.

“My mother would be happy that you hold her in such high respects. Get up!” Jake took the side of Nate’s sleeping bad and rolled the whole thing.

“It’s too early!” Nate moaned into the tent floor.

“It’s only 6 in the morning. C’mon! We need to get going if we’re going to get money today.”

Jake’s words had the intended effect. The Creative Writing major bolted up at the thought of not being able to access the internet for several weeks if they did not earn enough money. Staying in this abandoned factory with who knows what, eating canned goods until kingdom come. Sweating like pigs in a metal barn with no air conditioning and no windows to keep the 100% humidity out.

Ruffling his hair and stretching slightly, Nate was not all that bothered he had slept in his clothes. As generous as he was, Jim had not given them overnight clothes. It would have to do for now.

Slipping out of the tent Nathanial saw that the girls were all standing by the railing brushing their teeth. None of them looked happy to be there. Each sleepily scrubbed their teeth with half-lidded eyes. Rob appeared to have already finished and was trying in vain to get the wrinkles out of his pants and shirt. Even though he had hung his clothes up, the night had not been kind. Nathanial took the toothbrush and paste offered by Jake, and began brushing.

After he was done, Jake handed Nathanial a bottle of water with a warning to use only a little. They had a limited supply. With all their morning rituals finished, the ones they could still manage, the gang went back down the stairs and piled into the suburban. Drowsy and still half-asleep the bumps made by dried out rain puddles felt like insult to injury. Never the less, Rob managed to drive through the misty morning dew and back onto the road. He turned back toward downtown and the French Quarter using Tchoupitoulas St. The rising sun, as if waking from its own groggy slumber, began to shine its rays from the horizon, casting long and cool shadows amongst the opening buildings and the rumbling highway overpasses. Skirting around traffic, Rob triumphed over the confusing vehicular byways and managed to direct the Suburban onto N Peters St. as they drove by Jackson Square as slow as courtesy would allow.

“Doesn’t exactly scream ‘belly dancer’ or ‘vagrant performer’ to me.” Jake rubbed the stubble on his chin.

“Yeah.” Ravyn did the same out of habit. _Dang I miss growing facial hair._ “I was afraid of this. Rob do you think you can get us to Lois Armstrong Park? I think you can take one of these streets left. We should hit the park eventually.”

“Can do.”

Or so he said. Rob displayed a surprising amount of patience and endurance driving down the one lane street that was hedged wall to wall with buildings of all types. Houses and apartments sat next to or on top of restaurants and visitor attractions. And even at this early hour there were tourist who had come to see one of the greatest sights the Big Easy hosted. Even after Hurricane Katrina tore through only a few years ago, the French Quarter easily brought in half of the 4 million visitors that came each year, and the number was constantly growing.  

Somewhere along the bustling blocks Ravyn felt something stir inside of her. A feeling she had never quite felt in her previous life as Mike. As if she was a tuning fork and was resounding to her very core. And a feeling of a presence at her shoulders. She quickly looked around from her middle passenger seat, but the impression had dissipated. Evaporating into nothingness as the sun began warming all beneath its view.

Unknown to the short haired girl, Catharine was the one responsible for the disappearance of the sensation. For the mixed descendant had felt it to, the same resounding vibration throughout her being. And just as her adoptive family had taught her, she had warded them against supernatural sight. Cloaking the Suburban in a sphere of unassuming mundane. A trick that, although not lasting long, nulled a magically activated search. The one who taught her, Auntie Anastasia, said that if the spell was done properly then it would be like trying to find a leaf in a forest. Unfortunately, Catharine did not have the mana reserves to keep it going nor the training to use the needed amount of mana around her. Fortunately, most practitioners of the magical arts would just as soon give up than try to wait out the counter spell. And even then only some of the most powerful and dedicated could see through it. Spell slinging was not exactly rocket science, but sometimes it could be almost as complicated.

Durmaine came perpendicular with N Rampart Street, allowing Rob to get them out of the cramped boulevard. Pulling right into the scarce traffic and then circling around until they found the parking lot. 

Everyone popped out of the car like a bunch of marshmallows. Ravyn stretched with Joan as she scanned her new surroundings. The guys congregated around the hood of the car, keeping a keen eye out for any form of trouble in the wee hours even though most of the city had yet to shake off the cool of the evening. 

 _Alright, party time_. Ravyn thought as she placed her hands on her hips making mental not of the last recorded time she had seen on the suburban dashboard, 6:20. “Okay. Me’n Joan will stay in the park till around noon. Rob, check out the Quarter. There’s sure to be a few pamphlets that somebody will throw away or already has. Should be some casinos within walking distance. I think the Harrah’s Casino is a few blocks from Lafayette Square if you want to start-”

The grey skinned girl stopped as soon as she saw everyone giving her suspicious looks. “I got curious about New Orleans once okay? Yeash! In any case, that would a be a good place to start out. Just be careful. Win some, lose some. Nathanial should go with you this time around. It’s a bad idea for anybody to be out on their lonesome.”

“As for Jake and Catharine, there’s a few churches in this neighborhood a few blocks north. Just act how you feel and ask if anybody needs work done for quick money on hand.” Ravyn made sure to make eye contact with Catharine. “It might not be the most prolonged investment but it will get us quick cash fast if you score. It’s Sunday so there may be something going on. If you can grab something to eat and everybody meets back here around noon. Alright?”

Everyone nodded, firm determination in their eyes. “Cool, Break!”

And the friends went their separate ways. Joan and Rob shared a hug and a kiss before breaking off from each other. Jake and Catharine headed north to find a church to appease. Rob and Nathanial headed south in search of gambling dens. Leaving Joan and Ravyn to their own devices.

The sun had yet to fully rise to the day and burn all beneath its face and the park was empty, giving the two girls as much space as they needed.

Ravyn turned to Joan, walking backwards as they talked. “So how do you want to do this? Are you really wanting to do the belly dancer thing? We can but I’m not sure I could or even would join you. I can sort of pick a guitar but other than that I have almost zero talent for the aesthetic arts aside from writing.”

“What about drawing?” Joan asked as the two traveled down the concrete walkways down to the small man-made pond, passing the Mahilia Jackson Theater. “You could pose as an artist.”

“Yeah but I would need pen and paper for that. And those require money. Something we are short of at the moment.” Ravyn’s eyebrows crinkled together, frowning for her mouth.

Nodding, Joan consented. “Point taken. Eh, the belly dancer thing was a bit of a joke but I could do it. I made sure to grab a skirt or two from my house. Add a few tight tops and I could pull it off. All I need is music.”

It was Ravyn’s turn to nod, a steeled look in her amethyst eyes as they seemed to gaze beyond the lawn and trees ahead of them. “I’ll see what I can do. But for now let’s get set up. I want to be near the lakes as well as the entrance from Rampart St. It’s a way to screen people and may provide us with some shade. The hill by that red archway should be perfect.” She said pointing across the crisscrossed islands toward the rising sun.

An arch of some kind had been constructed a few yards before the Bridgeway onto the central island in the man-made lake. Looking toward Rampart St. there was a small hillock to the immediate left that had a small cluster of trees that had a wonderfully shaded area. It would be cold until 10 o’clock or so when the sun would begin to heat everything up.

The pair moved toward the hillock, sat down, and waited. This was the one flaw in Ravyn’s plan. The fly in the ointment. Time. There was not enough of it and yet there was too much. It was the age old problem of ‘hurry up and wait’. They needed to be ready but at they had to give the rest of the world time to get there. Ravyn busied herself by sorting through several nearby trashcans to try and find something they could use later; making sure to stay within earshot of her friend and often calling back to Joan.

By 7:30 a.m. Ravyn had gathered five tourist maps of ‘the sights’, two city maps, a package of wet wipes, half a carton of cigarettes she insisted to Joan would be useful in some sort of barter, a questionably dirty iPod that had an impressive library, several newspaper parts, a Dury Inn & Suites key card, and a cheap Swiss Army knife with a broken blade.

 _Thank you God for consumerism!_ She thought as she roved through the items.

The Swiss Army knife was a simple fix. Even though the blade was broken the end would still fold back in. It also had a corkscrew, tweezers, bottle opener, nail filer, as well as a smaller and less sharp knife blade, and several flat head screwdrivers. The scalpel she had snatched from the clean room was still in her possession, hidden carefully between the folds of the hoodie fabric. As for the maps they could divvy them up between groups and keep a few in the car. The iPod would come in handy if they could hook it up to a beat box of some sort. But for now it was little more than a fancy widget.

 

 

Catharine and Jake had more luck. As it turns out, not one but two of the churches close to the park were in need of janitorial assistance. Holy Faith Temple Baptist Church had a member that volunteered for the job some 20 years back but he was in his late 70s and everybody was worried he would hurt himself. St. Augustine’s Church needed them because the deacons and the pastor had been doing all the work. While he was happy to keep ‘doing the walk’ the work was cutting into his sermons and family time. As such he was happy to pay the two college kids who seemed to have lost their way a little to do the work.

They worked through the halls and pews of St. Augustine’s Church just as Sunday service let out. Catharine and Jake walked over a block to Holy Faith Temple Baptist Church to clean up. The pair worked well and were rewarded with cash on hand. Twenty dollars for Jake. Forty dollars for Catharine. And only for five hours of work. But the icing on the cake was that the pastor and several of the wives from Holy Faith Temple gave them leftovers from the pot-luck that went on after service. The only thing that troubled Jake was the feeling he was not alone when he was working the pews with just Catharine and himself in the church. It was reminiscent of being in a fight and knowing a guy was behind you. That itchy feeling of having someone in your blind spot.

Never the less, things were looking up for the runaways.

 

 

The one thing that Ravyn had not counted on was the cops. In her zeal for capitalizing on their quest for fast cash she had forgotten about them being missing persons. Or at least absent. A cop had wandered into the park and was checking things out in usual cop fashion. All business, hands near hips, only nodding and smiling in return. His presence sent Ravyn’s paranoid radar into a frenzied buzz.

Never the less Ravyn had long ago learned to act indifferent, casual. As Mike she had cultivated the uninterested and sleepy looks which she now put to good use. The cop moved on through the park without paying the two girls any mind.

She gave a slight sigh of relief. Come to think of it they had been missing for at least four days. Missing person reports were filed as soon as suspicion was given and people actually went to the police. Times could vary from a day to a whole week depending. As for the gang as individuals, Joan could go a week or so without being reported while the rest of them would have until the following Wednesday before rumors started spreading around Belhaven campus. It would be a miracle if they could get back before then but was almost entirely unlikely.

A wind slightly shook the leaves above Joan and Ravyn’s heads causing the girls to look up and admire the sunlight shining through the glowing green canopy. They were safe, if but for a moment. The sun had reached a rising latitude and by guesstimate Ravyn put the time at around 8:05 a.m. Tourist crowds were formulating throughout the city and though the only current people in the park were joggers the occupancy would soon swell. A weekend day near the end of the Spring semester was sure to invite the addictive urge to spend and relax to both wanderers and travelers. The girls would soon have enough prey that they could study if not partake.

Until then, Joan leaned back against the soft patches of grass and closed her eyes. The events of the last few days was like a persistent blur and it was all she could do to block it out. Others were depending on her and for now she needed some peace. If that meant a morning nap beneath foreign trees in a strange park beside a bodily altered friend, so be it.

Ravyn sat with her legs out, leaning back on her hands with elbows locked. She frowned slightly as she took in everything her eyes saw with keen trepidation. The smell of fresh baked goods slightly whiffed through the air around her as the city slowly came alive. New Orleans was prettier than most parts of Jackson she had been in. Though not all of the Big Easy was like the French Quarter, Ravyn admitted to herself.

Time passed slowly as the girls waited with nothing to do. Joan kept her eyes closed as Ravyn busied herself with abstract thought. Always the imaginative one, she tried to discern what she knew.

Caped men with wands and staffs and magic had kidnapped them. Each had woken up in a clean room of sorts. There were guards, though they could probably be called enthusiasts rather than mercenaries, with guns and at least one worker in a biohazard suit. Almost everyone in the gang had displayed some sort of extra power excluding Catharine and Jake. There were no mages or whatever they were around the warehouse when they woke up, oddly. They had not been pursued to Ravyn’s knowledge, though there was that weird feeling this morning.

The grey-skinned girl flicked a stray purple lock away from her eyes, brow scrunching up. _Then why? Whoever kidnaped us did research on each of us before hand. They invested time and resources into us, or at least me. Yet now where are they? They would be idiots to give up. Do they know where we are and are just waiting to pounce? Or are they looking for us after we ran, trying to follow any trail we left?_

She crossed her legs and leaned forward, amethyst eyes staring at thoughts conjured from her mind. _Let’s go over it again. We were gaming, the lights went out, they knocked at the door and I answered._

A wave of guilt washed over her slender shoulders. _Why did I open that door?_

“Coffee!” Joan shot up straight, eyes wide and arms at the ready. Nearly hitting Ravyn with her quick provocation.

“Coffee?” The grey-skinned girl looked at her friend and noticed how large her pupils had gotten. “Uh Joan, are you high off coffee smell?”

“Not sure. I can smell it like it’s right under my nose but at the same time I know where it’s coming from.” Joan’s nose twitched a little. “It feels kind of like having cake but not eating it.”

“It might be from your adaptation.” Ravyn mused, putting her elbows on crossed knees. “If I was changed into a purple-grey smurf they could have been trying to make Nathan into some sort of superhero as well.” She trailed off, not wanting to stipulate any more.

There was a reason for Joan’s alignment with felines but for the sake of her friend’s mental security Ravyn did not want to mention they were probably trying to turn her into a cat girl. She instead tried to move Joan’s focus elsewhere.

“Can you hear or see anything special?”

“Not really. The smell of coffee is still there but I think that’s mainly because I was thinking about it.” Joan tilted her head to the side a little. “Now that I think about it there is a certain odor, like a guy’s locker room.”

Ravyn nodded. “That would probably be the traces of sweat from the joggers. Anything else?”

The tomboy frowned but did not look at her friend. “Ask me to pull a rabbit out of the hat why don’t you.” She mumbled under her breath before inhaling deeply. “There’s the smell of algae and somewhat stagnate water. Ugh, Louisiana mud. Oh! And croissants!”

 _Well at least she’s working with it just fine._ Ravyn pointed to the bridge arch. “Alright, what color is that?”

Joan frowned. “What do you mean what color is it? The gables, or whatever they are, are a bit greenish. The canvas cover is a dull red or orange. The rest is either grey concrete or green plants.”

“Fun animal fact.” A thin finger pointed to amethyst eye. “Cats have great eyesight but for certain scientific reasons they have a hard time identifying red. Fortunately for you it looks like your cat and human traits are combined. Otherwise you would have said the canvas was a yellowish color, probably lime green.”

Joan nodded as the first crowd of the day began to sweep into the park. Getting up from the ground, Ravyn brushed off her blue jeans and hoody.

“Time to go to work.”

 

 

No thanks to Nathanial’s innate non-existent sense of direction, Rob and Nate had made toward the Lower Garden District. Unsurprisingly there were people already out and about bumping shoulders and trying to get that one souvenir that would best reflect their visit to the Big Easy. It was the tourist lackadaisical attitude that allowed Rob to swipe a city map without anybody noticing.

The two quickly charted the city looking for bingo parlors, casinos, and pool bars. Anywhere gambling would not be frowned upon for any reason. They settled on Harrah’s Casino on Poydras St. It was a semi large establishment that was sure to reward a pair of stragglers with a few bucks in their pocket.

Harrah’s Casino was like almost any other gambling establishment, the right mix of commercialism and semi-seedy appearance to seem respectable enough. It might have been a theater once. Or a shopping mall. The outer brick was rosy in the sunlight and a blue neon globe with multi-colored stars glowed with the establishment’s own name. Though the thing looked like it had not been replaced or even cleaned since the mid-90s. The inside, however, was twice as gaudy as the outside. Dark, lush carpet with slightly subdued lighting. Arched gable ways and fantastic floral arrangements gave the impression of luxury. But that too was just a façade.

Two large black bouncers stopped the pair where Briar showed them his ID, claiming he had come to give Nathanial his first gambling rush at the poker tables. The bouncers seemed to buy his story and let the pair through with wary stares.

Rob Thorne stepped onto the gambling floor and cracked his knuckles. “Show time.” He said with a slight grin.

He made a slight deposit at the exchange counter, turning in a few large bills for chips, and headed to the mostly empty floor. It was still morning and they had the hall pretty much to themselves though there were a couple of tables open with a game going.

The confidently well-dressed Rob approached the table with more people and asked if he could join. Only the dealer eyed him with suspicion. A player who brought a friend was either trouble or working an angle.

Nathanial stuttered his reassurance that he would stay at Rob’s side at the far end of the table and would not interfere. It seemed to calm the dealer down a little but not that much. The players were a couple from Oklahoma, three single guys and a girl who were probably doing something to work off the hangover from last night, and one old guy who looked like business. Of the seven the senior citizen would be trouble.

Rustling of the shuffle machine brought Rob’s attention back to the game. In his mind he set the symbol room with kings and queens, jacks and jokers, aces and tens. He steeled himself for the game. Joan was counting on him.

 

 

A few hours later they all met again by the Suburban to share the pot-luck leftovers Catharine and Jake brought from the churches. As they ate, thankful for the cold meal, the group enjoyed the sunlight and the heat. They could have done without the crowds and the constant sound of vehicles but there was nothing to be done about that.

“So.” Nate said, not wanting to break the constant munching but feeling like he had to. “How did y’all do?”

Jake grinned as he held up what remained of a wrapped sloppy joe sandwich. It was evident that he and Catharine had done their part. In between bites he gestured for Catharine to ‘show them the money’. The shy girl picked a wad of thin wad of ten dollar bills out of her jeans pocket. It was only eighty dollars but it was good for only three hours of work each.

Ravyn distributed the two city maps they collected as well as the tourist maps, putting a few in the suburban for good measure. She also showed them the broken Swiss Army knife she found as well as the hotel card and now cleaned up iPod. In addition, Joan produced a small bag full of quarters.

“I ended up getting them out of a trash can.” She wrinkled her nose. “Smelled better than the other ones but still.”

“Are you really wanting to go through with the belly dancer act?” Rob’s question killed any relief or joy that sprang up a moment before. There was something of an edge to his words.

“If I can get my hands on a beat box.” Joan nodded, crossing her arms. “Why?”

“Oh, nothing.” Her boyfriend diverted. Though he could not help but feel a nagging jealousy and possession at the thought of his girlfriend showing off her body in front of unknown men. Would any man?

“Well,” Rob managed to recover from the sudden tension. “We didn’t get a whole lot but they’ll let us back in if we ever want.”

Nathanial flashed three hundred dollar bills as he gnawed on a chicken tender. “It should feed ush and maybe a shower.” He managed to say between bites.

“So long as you don’t die of asphyxiation first.” Ravyn chuckled.

Yet the grey-skinned girl could not but feel incompetent. It was only natural that the others would get resources quicker as she had given them task which would pay off. They were gambles but had a decent possibility of success. While Joan and her were left to try their hands at the gypsy trade.

Ravyn closed her eyes and bit back on the thought. It was what she had planned. All Gypsies did not steal. And she was sure not going to give into impatience. She would see this through and get her friends back to their lives even if it meant leaving her own.

“Alright everybody!” The comic character look-alike clapped her hands. “Water break’s over, back on your heads!”

 

 

The day ended with the gang driving back to their sanctum in the power plant. Gold was not lining their pockets, but they did have an extra five hundred dollars. They agreed three hundred of it would be spent on tomorrows gambling spree. It was best to try not attracting attention to themselves. Giving back to the machine was part of that. One had to lose almost as much as they had won otherwise the Casinos would feel cheated out of their invested addiction money.

Night was a humid as the day, perhaps worse. Everyone’s dreams were rudely interrupted by a train coming down the tracks just outside as well as several boats fog horning their way down the Mississippi River beyond the tracks. All the while, Ravyn could barely sleep. Her eyelids flickered back and forth with erratic movement beneath. Each time she would attempt to get comfortable some part of her body felt a twitch of static. Something that just did not feel natural to lie on. The girl would toss and turn in her sleeping bag and wake with sweat coating the inside of her cocoon. Ravyn was finally succumbed to sleep out of sheer exhaustion.

Before sweet relaxation fully recharged her body Monday morning came and Catharine stirred her awake. They each repeated the same process over again. Get up, wash, rinse, repeat if absolutely necessary.

Nate found himself finding it odd that life on the run was not to different from that of normal life. The routines were mostly the same save for the fact that if they did not make money to support themselves they were as good as gone. They would have to move back into the line of fire. And nobody would believe a college student who claimed to be kidnapped by wizards.

Before 6:30 had rolled around they were back in the Lois Armstrong park and going their separate ways for the day. Nate and Rob would hit the same casino and lose more than the amount they had won to seem like they were trying to go gold. It was decided the day before that they would give back some throw away money. It felt like betrayal giving away earned resources but it was necessary.

Jake and an oddly jovial Catharine went to St. Augustine’s Church to clean for upcoming Wednesday mass. Both seemed content with their end of things. It was simple for them; manual labor equaled pay. Though Jake was solely focused on doing the best work he could down to the last detail, Catharine was more than happy just to work with Jake. His presence comforted her and quelled her doubts. And, most worrying of all or perhaps not worrying, was the way Jake made her stomach burst with butterflies and made her heart tremor. It was all she could do from turning beet red at the thought. The timid non-duff made a mental note to ask Joan about things of the boy-girl sort when they were in less tense situations.

While Joan was stretching out the kinks sleeping without a mattress will give a person, Ravyn was keeping an eye on the park. They picked the same spot as last time and there was nothing to see at this hour aside from the joggers going back and forth. She had to be patient. Just as before. Things did not always come to those who waited but they did tend to make themselves known.

Then she spotted him.

The mark was perhaps not the wisest of choices. Or the smartest. He was a grey-haired balding man that looked to be in his late 50s, perhaps 60s. Tweed and check patterns seemed to be his preferred style. And even Ravyn had to admit, the man wore it well. The whole old-timey professor look suited him.

Ravyn smirked. _Heh-heh. Suited him. _

It had to be 7:00 in the morning and the professor, or whomever he was, was the only other visitor to the park besides the joggers. He had walked in with sharped shined shoes and a thermos full of coffee; a leather satchel in hand. Calmly sitting down on a bench further up the running path than Joan and Ravyn, the professor had taken a sip of coffee after pouring some into the portable cup that attached to his thermos and pulled out a laptop. Though her view was slightly obscured by the far-flung droplets of water cast by a fountain and some foliage, Ravyn did not miss the telltale glint of silver as the man opened up the steel colored rectangle. It was either a Macintosh or a gilded up HP. Either way it was a computer and therefor something that gave the gang an advantage.

But for now, Ravyn merely observed. There was nothing more she wanted than to take the computer and whatever else was in the satchel right then. However, she needed to be careful. They all needed to be careful. And ‘want’ was not ‘need’. One mistake could send them back to Jackson and that would put them all in danger. Amethyst eyes watched every flicker and tick of the man’s hands.

The sun rose steadily for two hours as the joggers thinned. Only after three or so hours did the man cease his attendance at the keyboard to set aside. Taking the tin cup in hand he crossed his legs at the knee and contently sipped his brew while looking out into the park. And thankfully away from Joan and Ravyn. When it had reached 11:00 according to the iPod clock, the man started picking up his things and left the park via the parking lot. Ravyn marked his coming and going. The professor would be a person to keep an eye out for.

In the mean-time Joan tapped Ravyn’s arm for attention. When she turned Joan was pointing over to a starry eyed group that seemed to be wholly and completely ‘on tour’. There must have been forty of them all bustling about as they came up from the south.

Joan jerked her chin to the group. “You want to try them out?”

“Maybe.” Ravyn tilted her head and squinted a little. Admittedly, it was a tad cliché but as Mike it had helped her thinking process. Method to the madness. 

She glanced at how ruffled her friend looked after two days and no comforts. “Are you sure you’re up for it?”

Joan nodded. “Whenever you are Mi-. Ravyn.”

“Alright.” The other girl ignored the cover-up and gave Joan a pat on the back. It was something a guy would do but Ravyn had yet to figure out the physical communication between girls. “Let’s just go with the group. If they stop, we stop. If you’re going to grab something make it small, and if you have an opportunity cough. Okay?”

“And when I got whatever it is?”

“Walk slower than everybody else. I’ll do the same until we’re at the back.” Ravyn flicked her eyes over to meet Joan’s clear blue ones. “If you get noticed, run. Don’t think. Just run. If you get distance, act normal. Head north to the Churches when you run though. Any other way and we lose you.”

Nodding Joan got up and brushed herself off. Ravyn pulled off her hoody to reveal the short t-shirt and barest hint of the dark one-piece beneath. Tying the hoody arms around her waist Ravyn followed her friend the group approached the red arch. The pair mingled with the middle aged peoples flocking to see the park dedicated to Lois Armstrong himself. As if they had nothing better to spend their money on. But then again, it was good to get out and see the sights. A person only live once right?

They followed the group across the gabbled bridge, sunlight piercing through the slanted wood ribs stuck between metal bones that formed the structure. Passing a red painted building and some palm trees toward the theater.

Joan noticed one of the older ladies took pictures a lot on her iPhone, and she also had to type in the password every time she turned it off. She put her elbow up and coughed as she saw the lady stick it in her purse just within casual reach. Just as planned, her arm snaked quickly and snagged the protruding iPhone just as the lady jostled with another tourist. The clacking and creaking of wood planks covered anything else as the group crossed from the middle island toward the theater. Joan held back, walking slower and slower until she was sure there were only a few stragglers behind her. Only then did the tomboy glance back to see her grey-skinned companion a few feet behind her with hands stuck deep in baggy jean pockets.

She jerked her chin to the left path toward the trees and opposite of the group’s path. Joan nodded and the pair silently, slowly dropped away from the pack to make their way amongst a finely clean grove of young oak trees before taking another bridge south then back around toward the outside of the man-made lake. Then down to the left, making a giant loop until they were safely back at their regular spot. Passing some choice pieces of modern art in the process.

When they got back Joan took abstract notice of Ravyn’s t-shirt out of determination to think of something else than she just stole something. She had not noticed it before but amongst the faded white green letters could be barely made out. An ‘S’, ‘K’, ‘AN’, and what looked like a ‘K’. S-K-A-N-K? Joan smirked in an almost impossible attempt to keep from laughing, clamping a hand to her mouth and turning away.

“What? Did I get bird poop in my hair?” Ravyn cocked an eyebrow.

“Nope.” Joan said quickly as she turned back to face her friend, sealing her lips and sucking them in around a smile.

Ravyn eyed her friend for a moment, not entirely convinced. “Whatever it is I’ll find out later. Did you get it?”

“Yuppers!” Joan beamed, holding out the magenta encased iPhone. “And as an added touch I got the code.”

The tomboy mimicked the lady’s fingers along the phones number pad and the phone unlocked with a slightly audible, manufactured ‘click’.

“Awesome.” Ravyn moved next to the slightly taller girl. “Can you redo it so I can see the code please?”

“Sure.” Thin fingers quickly flicked it off and back on again. Padding through the numbers based on pictorial memory.

Ravyn repeated the code aloud as Joan typed it in. “6-2-6-2-3-4. Alright, we got a phone!”

The two gave each other impish grins. Ravyn held her hand up for a high-five and Joan did likewise, bringing the two together in a perfect clap. They both giggled at their newfound treasure.

“The others are going to love this!” Ravyn smiled down at the small yet treasured device.

They did indeed. As the group got together over lunch, what little they could eat out of a can and a few nutrition bars, the pair revealed what they had acquired. Each one was ecstatic at their little accomplishment. It was one piece of the world they once had. A freedom regained, even though it was at the expense of another.

The motley group of college students turned runaways sat around the right side of the borrowed suburban like heroes of old. Or mischievous bandits who had made away with the fat baron’s treasure, it was hard to tell. They laughed over past memories as they ate prepackaged food like it was bread from heaven. Back in each of their minds they knew the bliss would end sooner rather than later and that all they were eating was canned goods. But for the moment it was each other that held the universe together. Their companionship, shared smiles and laughs, ridiculous puns and lame jokes, and familiar embraces that kept them going.

Catharine had once seen herself as an outsider to the group. It was by Nate’s suggestion that she join the group’s biweekly D&D adventure after learning she knew a thing or two about the game. When Mike, now Ravyn, had found out Catharine had been invited with blessing, and a very large hug. In truth, she had secretly joined on a tiny selfish whim. Catharine wanted so very much to be closer to Jake. Always seeing him from afar or passing him in the hallway, Catharine had jumped at the opportunity to find out more about the lean 23 year-old. The last thing she expected was to gain friends, good friends, in the process. And she would never have guessed that she would be laughing and giggling with them, blushing with the swaying tide of conversation. It was a feeling she would take with her to the life after this and treasure always. And Catharine knew that after that second night she would no longer have been able to walk away. These were her people, and she would move mountains for them.

Jake slurped up the rest of the juice from a can of sliced pineapple before setting it down to a second one. His metabolism and inherited sugar deficiency would be satisfied for a while. Never the less he had the urged to work off some of the energy and vowed to do some core workouts later. Spending time with Catharine was peaceful. Soothing almost. It was true that being around women had not really bothered him too much. Having an older sister and two younger ones tended to do that. But there was something special about Catharine. She was a bit of a klutz sometimes but aside from blushing in shame for spilling the mop bucket twice she kept working. Never letting her failures get her down. Striving with all her perceivable might to support their little cause. Jake smiled to himself. She was quite the little crusader.

“Alright folks, I got good news and bad news.” Ravyn said, tinking a plastic spoon to her meal can.

There was a slight pause.

“So do y’all want to hear the good news or the bad news-” She started again before being unanimously interrupted.

“Just lay it out for us.” Jake had already crossed his arms and motioned with one of his hands while leaning against the Suburban.

“Good news! Good news! Good news!” Nathanial cheered a little, pumping a fist in the air.

Rob smirked and shrugged. “Might as well spill it.”

Catharine had joined Nate in his dorky but earnest cheer. “Good news! Good news! Good news!”

Joan nudged her friend with and elbow. “Might as well.”

Sighing heavily in mock weariness, Ravyn stepped forward. “Alright, alright here it is. The good news is that Joan got us a phone.” She held up the technological wonder in her slender fingers. “Bad news is we can only use it about three times in the next 24 hours before it becomes mandatory to wipe it, yank the memory card, and dump it.”

Nate looked applaud at the thought. “But, why?”

“Cause the owner will have reported it stolen after 48 if not sooner and that makes it a hot item.” Rob scratched his chin and nodded toward Ravyn. “Like white on rice.”

“Exactly.” Ravyn nodded back and held up the iPhone, the savior and betrayer of them all. “We hold onto this too long or do anything too stupid we risk exposure to this whole deal. So we need to make sure that who we call or anything we do with this phone is valuable. It’s a Hail Mary that needs to hit home, got it? Anything y’all can think of to help out, I’m open to ideas.”

Ironic silence was only interrupted by the background bustle of the shuffling city. Each member of the gang wracking their minds as Ravyn waited patiently.

“Call our professors and family? Tell’em what’s going on?” Rob suggested for the sake of argument.

Jake shook his head. “To risky. And it would only buy us a little more time in the social, responsible realm of graduating.”

Catharine fidgeted with her fingers. “Call the FBI?”

“That’s not actually a bad idea.” Ravyn raised her head, pointing a finger to Catharine in emphasis of point. “But also not a good one. All we could tell them is that we anonymously got kidnapped and put in a warehouse somewhere off interstate 20 outside Jackson. No dice. Not without something more substantial.”

Catharine nodded, a little deterred but not put down.

“Does anybody know a person that could get some of our stuff to us? A co-worker or friend that our own personal stalkers wouldn’t know of?” Joan swiped a long bang away from her eyes. She had not had the chance to trim or arrange her hair in a few days and it was getting messy.

“Come on,” Nate crossed his arms with an agitated shrug. “Do any of us know somebody like that?”

Biting her bottom lip, Ravyn dug deep in the recesses of her memory as Mike. Then it came to her, like a light just flicked on. “I know the perfect guy.”

She still had her eyes cast down, boring holes in the asphalt in concentration, when everybody looked at her.

“Well?” Joan asked with a shrug. “Who?”

“Do y’all remember that weird roommate I had a couple of semesters ago? Junior year? The guy who slept all the time?” The trip down memory lane, while successful for her, seemed to be a bit lacking for the rest of the group.

“Not ringing a bell.” Jake shook his head.

“Nope.” Nathanial replied.

“The tall guy who always slept in class? History major with interest in Vatican texts?” Ravyn prompted, hoping to stir up something.

“No.” They all shook their heads.

She sighed and palmed her forehead. “The guy who always made an ‘A’ despite sleeping through most of class. The guy who got in an argument with the Kingdom Life professor about the ethics of staying single.”

That did the trick. The light came on and every one of them instantly knew who Ravyn was talking about.

“Michael?” Jake asked incredulously. He felt like Mike, now Ravyn, had gone over the deep end with this one.

“Yes.”

“The guy who sleeps until 10 in the morning Michael?” He asked rhetorically.

“Wait.” Joan put up a hand to turn to Ravyn. “Is this the guy who you invited to game with us that one night and never showed up?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait,” Catharine, the youngest of them living off campus and not a socialite to begin with, felt herself out of sync. “Who are we talking about? I have heard of the argument with the Kingdom Life professor but only from you guys. What’s the problem?”

Ravyn took a deep breath and sighed, placing hands on hips. “Michael Grimm is a very-”

“VERY.” Jake added for effect and point.

“- interesting,” Ravyn sorted through the least harsh words she could think of. “Fellow. Who is very, VERY, lazy.” She gave Jake a look.

“According to rumor he made top level scores on the SAT, easy Ivy league qualification if not an Oxford-level college, and he decides to go to Belhaven instead to earn a history degree because he doesn’t feel like putting in the work.” Nate explained.

“Also, there was that one time the professor actually DARED him to pass the class. Michael spent all but one of his available absences. He never took any notes. He just spent all class slumped over his desk; I even heard him snoring once. But when the final came around, there was only one test for the class, Michael got the highest possible score without the available extra credit.” Jake shrugged. “And this is the guy you want to call?”

“Hey. He may be a lazy, sloth of a human being, but if he wants to move he does.” Ravyn raised her eyebrows as she stared into the ground again. Even if her body had changed, her memories remained unaltered and she remembered well what had happened when someone got in the way between Michael and what he wanted to do.

She rubbed the spot on her back where her shoulder blade and back bone were separated by a few centimeters of sinew and muscle. The ache and healed fracture she had as mike was healed but Ravyn remembered it well. “He’ll answer if I call in a favor.”

Nathanial looked quizzically at her.

“He is particular about keeping his promises.” Ravyn rubbed her forearm and left it at that.

The corner of Jake’s mouth curled back, neither in frown nor smile. It could work as long as the lazy lummox answered. “Anybody got any better ideas?”

All of them shook their heads.

“Alright, well let’s get to it.” Jake clapped his hands as he popped himself away from the suburban.

“We don’t have to do it now.” Ravyn put up her hands. “I just suggested we call him within the next twenty-four hours is all. No need to rush things on my account.”

“No, no.” Rob waved his hand. “If you got somebody that can help out then call’m up. Sooner the better. We could all used some downtime for once.” He gestured to the somewhat drudged state of the gang.

“We could use a shower-her-heeer!” Joan moaned, almost begging.

Ravyn sighed with a smile. “Alright, alright. But it has to be someone else who talks. If it’s me he won’t know who I am for, well, obvious reasons. Soooooooooo. . . . ?”

“I can call him.” Nathanial offered with a shrug. In for a penny, in for a pound. “He knows me a little. We talked before.”

Ravyn cocked an eyebrow. This would be interesting. “Cool. If y’all want to do it now let’s set it up.”

Each of them nodded as they gathered around the phone as Ravyn tapped out the password, fumbling it several times and Joan ended up putting it in before giving the phone back. The small purple-haired girl then typed in a number from memory into the virtual keypad. Handing the rectangular device to Nate she gave him a mock thumbs up with a ridiculous grin. The phone rang. And rang. And rang.

 _Dear God! Is he really asleep in the middle of the afternoon?!?!_ Nathanial growled a little to himself, not loud enough for anybody to hear. He had to admit he was more than a little jealous.  

Being introverted and having to go to class did not exactly mix. It was one of the things he and Mike, Ravyn, had been able to bond about. Both neglected broad socialization simply because it wore them out. Not to mention it made them uncomfortable.

“You have reached the mail box of-” A grumbling voice interrupted the voicemail recording stating the name Michael Grimm. Or at least it sounded like he did. “Who is not able to answer you call at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone. BEEP!”

Nate cocked an eyebrow at Ravyn. _What now?_

The grey-skinned girl spun her finger in a circle.

He smiled himself as he ended the call and redialed the number from the phones history. One way to wake a sloth was to bug him incessantly.

Again it rang until it went to voicemail. Ravyn spun her finger again. The determined look on her face had not changed. They would get through to Michael and he would deliver the goods to them. Failure was not an option.

The third time it rang three times before there was a slight click on the other end and a drowsy voice rumbled. “What do you want?”

Nate startled for a minute at the aggression in Michael’s voice. “Hey, uh, Michael. It’s Nate, Nate Rhinehart. Do you remember me?”

A growling grunt was all he got in reply.

“Well, um, Mike said I could ask you for a favor in his place. Would that be okay?”

A long, heavy sigh punctuated by the creak of a bedframe. “Tell Mike to phone in his own favors. I don’t like dealing with second hand parties.”

“Well, uh, I think Mike would be rather um- unhappy to hear you say that.” The cornered Nathanial looked urgently at Ravyn and motioned for her over. “I think you and Mike need to come to some terms of agreement and communication.”

Ravyn sighed. She knew Michael to be a stubborn son of a gun, but she needed him to take the darn offer. The short girl glared up at Nate. “Tell him if he does this we’ll call what happened by the Pearl River Dam even.”

“Rav- I mean Mike, says that if you do this you two will be even for the Pearl River Dam.” Silence on the other end.

There was the sound of the bed creaking again as Michael probably sat up to put his feet over the bed. A groan seemed to echo through the dorm room on the other end of the line. Nate waited. If he thought crossing his fingers might help he would have.

“Alright.” Michael finally said. “What’s the favor?”

“Um. We, I mean I need you to go into Me’n Kerry’s room and get some stuff and put it in a bag and come give it to us.”

“What kind of stuff? And what do you want me to stuff it in?” Michael grunted.

“Uh-” Nate looked at the others for support.

Jake made the eating, drinking and typing motions.

“Some clothes.” Jake face palmed himself. “Any snacks you can find lying around. There’s a box of Dr. Pepper cherry lying around, if you could bring that too. And our computers with chargers and stuff if you could.”

“Tell him to look in my old room and get the King James bible, please.” Ravyn interrupted. “It’s the light brown one with an embroidered cross thingy on the front.”

“And get Mike’s King James bible. It’s the light brown one with the cross thingy on the front.” Nate repeated.

Michael sighed. “Fine. I’ll talk to Fun and the RA about getting the stuff.”

Nathanial turned the phone away from his mouth. “Fun?”

“Chinese roommate’s middle name.” Ravyn shrugged.

“Where did you want me to drop it off?” Michael broke back in.

“Um. Burbon St. in New Orleans.”

There was a slight pause on the other end. “Fine. I can’t do it today or tomorrow. I’ve got classes I need get to and it’s going to take me two hours and fifty-three minutes to get there. I’ll be there Wednesday at one o’clock sharp. Got that?”

“Sure.”

“Meet me at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. It’s a historic one-layer on the corner of St. Phillip and Bourbon. Cool?” Michael seemed to be waiting for an answer.

“Yeah.

“Cool.” The call ended with a slap.

Nathanial stood there for a second or two before looking to Ravyn. “Does Michael have an iPhone?”

“Nope.” Ravyn shook her head. “He keeps a Nokia flip phone. So where and when is he going to meet us?”

“Wednesday at one o’clock sharp on the corner of St. Phillip and Bourbon, a place called Laffite’s Blacksmith Shop.” Nate reiterated. “Do you think he’ll show up?”

“If there’s one thing I’d bet on every time. It would be Michael showing up when he says he will.” Ravyn scratched an itch on her neck before popping it. “Anything else before we toss the phone?”

“Nothing comes to mind.” Joan shrugged. “Though a hotel spa would be nice. You don’t have one of those lying around do you?”

“Not yet, no.” She smiled back. “But I’ll look into it.”

“Well, if that’s it then Catharine and I should get back to tending the churches.” Jake spoke up. “The windows still need cleaning and the sills have collected too much dust.”

“And there’s more card tables to shark.” Rob mumbled aloud, rubbing his eyes.

Ravyn nodded but was slightly disappointed that Joan’s success only had this one payoff so far. “Good. Nate? Could you and Rob take the phone? If we don’t need it anymore we need to get rid of it.”

He took the phone and looked over at Rob. Fomerly stylish in his dress, Rob’s vest and pants were now raggedy and gave him ‘the rich party hard’ look. “Yeah. We can do that. There’s a few places we can drop it off.”

“Just make sure you dunk the iPhone in a trashcan. I don’t want it found.” With thumb rubbing along her smooth lips, Ravyn mused and looked the pair. “If you can get the thing open and remove the memory drive, please do so. If not, wipe it down and break it. Then throw it in the trash.”

“You sure are being thorough about this aren’t you?” Joan quipped with a smirk.

 _Because I don’t want my actions to put any of you in harm’s way._ The small grey-skinned girl smiled back. “Just covering my bases.”

As they were about to leave Catharine felt it again, the pealing eyes of a malicious entity. The curvy raven-haired girl summoned her will and whispered a few commanding words in Romani. A glow briefly lit her lips a faint orange-silver. Catharine pretended blew on her hands to cover the small magical effect. The feeling kept on for a few minutes then abated. The normally shy girl could not help but worry. Twice in a few days meant that someone was focused on finding them. It might be the men who kidnapped them, or it could be an anonymous third party with piqued interest. Catharine did not know which worried her more. None of the others seemed to notice the subtle change. Perhaps that was for the best. Let the ignorant keep their bliss, if only for a little longer.

Jake walked north with Catharine at his side, his mind abuzz with thoughts. Annoyingly more than usual. Seeming to follow the thoughts were random feelings, each taking sides and opinions. The sooner they were out of this madness the better. Jake did not want to consider he was losing his mind.

 

Tuesday came and went without any trouble. Joan and Ravyn had no luck at the park but they were not bothered by any police either which was good. The “tweed professor” came back from 7 to 11 just as he had last time. Nathanial and Rob were more successful in their venture and were able to acquire several more hundreds in spending money. And the Catharine-Jake team managed to work out a deal with the churches a few blocks north of the park. Regular work in exchange for 8 dollars an hour. It was not much but churches were skim on cash as it was. In addition, they could help themselves to whatever leftover potluck the church members did not claim.

On Wednesday morning it was about business as usual. Excitement was in their hearts as each went to work doing their assignments. As hours slipped by the time came to gather for the meeting.

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop was a grey oddity that harkened back to colonial times. Its squat one story construction gave it a quaint ‘cottage in the woods’ feel; while the faded mortar into brick lended itself to the buildings origins under the French privateer Jean Lafitte. All of which did not fail to keep the tourist from flocking around it like a watering hole in the heat of the afternoon. With only the iPod to keep the time, the gang waited patiently for Michael’s arrival.

At precisely 12:59:59 A.M., the tall Michael Grimm walked through the crowded Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop to tap the sitting Nathaniel on the shoulder and making him jump in the process. To say Michael Grimm was slothful would be inadequate. Drowsiness seemed to hover about him like an oppressive aura. His face was pensive but neutral beneath stray bangs of tied back dark hair. Rainbow pattern eyes based in distinctive green seemed to languidly study his surroundings. A light Under-Armor compressed long-sleeve shirt bulged with his compacted muscles underneath a well-worn outer t-shirt. Michael was a lot like Jake in the fact that he did not bulk out, nor was he stocky. He was simply jacked. Though how was the better part of the question. The stained and baggy cargo pants looked like they had not been in the washer for several weeks. Not to mention the boots appeared to be the better part of 40 years old and somehow still in one piece. The twenty-something young man was taller than Mike had been, 6 foot 6 inches to be precise. Intimidating until he slouched onto something.

Leaning on one of the door post, Michael dropped two backpacks worth of stuff next to the chair Nathanial was sitting at as the others gathered around. There were snacks and personal items aplenty. No little thing had been overlooked in the promised request. Perhaps the only thing that was not there was more of Mike’s own personal items.

“Thank you for getting all of this, we really appreciate it.” Jake said, rummaging through his own orange camo pack.

A grunt was all he got in reply.

Ravyn waited patiently as the others sorted through their stuff to get what she wanted. The leather-bound King James bible. When it was back in her hands she began leafing through it, trying to remember direct verses she used. There was the parable about the rich man, the proverb about money, Jesus telling the disciples that the old woman who gave the pence was greater than the Pharisee, and several others until she reached the small envelope at the end. It was all there, just as she had left it.

Everything the group had needed, even Nathanial’s personal stash of Dr. Pepper Cherry, was there. With the afternoon crowds beginning to waiver, Michael waited patiently for them to finish as they were caught up in their joy of sudden abundance.

Ravyn offered her hand with a big smile, giddy with the excitement and silently trying not to be astounded by how tall Michael was to her own new height. “Thank you for bringing this stuff to us, it means a lot.”

Instead of taking the hand, Michael put his own on the top of Ravyn’s head and began to affectionately pat her unwashed purple hair. His eyes gazed down into her amethyst ones with keen interest, studying her.

She stood like that for a moment, dropping her hand to her side. It did feel a little nice honestly, like an approving older brother. But there was something off about the gesture, almost as if-

“Hmm, short.” Michael grunted and gave Ravyn one last pat on the head before putting both hands in his pockets. “Y’all have been missing from the dorms y’know.”

Jake was the one to answer him.

“We know. Anything we should worry about?” He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“I ain’t one to meddle in other people’s business.” Michael detached himself from the door post. “Y’all just make sure to look out for y’selves. I’ve done my piece.”

“Thank you again.” Jake said in formality as Michael began strolling away.

The big man turned back once to look Ravyn dead in the eye. “Tell Mike, we’re even.”

And like that he was lost amongst a throng of passing tourists.

 _Did he actually just-_? Ravyn never got to finish the though as she immediately spotted something of greater concern.

Two police officers chatting with each other and looking over the group a little more than normal. They were joined by another police officer who also got into the conversation. Talking, looking over, and talking. Their eyes shielded from the bright sun by dark sunglasses. Then two of them began walking over toward them.

“Guys we got company.” Ravyn hissed.

The others looked up to see the two officers approaching.

“Run?” Rob asked.

“Makes us look guilty.” Jake answered. “We stay; see what they want.”

Ravyn bit her lip. _God in heaven, please do not let us fall into the hands of our enemies._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every have one of those dreams you could just stay in forever and then somebody wakes you up? There’s a special circle in fictional hell for those people.  
> We’re going to start calling them ‘gang’ in addition to group and party because it’s getting tough just classifying them as those two.  
> Swiss Army knives are not actually cheap but we’re calling it that by comparison.  
> Also, we haven’t checked recently if Holy Faith Temple Baptist Church or St. Augustine’s Church are in need of manual labor, so if they are not we apologize for false advertisement?

**Author's Note:**

> Admittedly we're trying to work on our comedy and somewhat failing. This story and these characters are a based on friends of a friend and kind of evolved from there. (note: never aggravate a writer, they will kill you in stories. Or worse.) Again please don't hesitate to suggest, comment, or give your opinion. We're open to ideas.  
> Also, there is horrible grammar. Soon to be addressed. (I hope)


End file.
